MEMPHIS, Tenn. – – A grieving father is still wondering who killed his son. It’s been nearly three years.
Reginald Johnson will always remember the last thing his 21-year-old son Samuel said to him before leaving their house in Frayser.
“He told me, he said dad, I’m going to go to the gym,” Johnson says.
He didn’t make it back. It was Halloween night in 2014. Samuel was shot and killed. After neighbors knocked on his door, Johnson says he found his son lying on the ground not far from his house, but Johnson says he didn’t realize his son had been shot, particularly because he didn’t see any blood.
He says he found out later after Samuel died at the hospital. It was the second time his son had been shot that month. Police believe the first was the work of rival gangs, but it’s unclear if the two shootings are connected.
“Living with this for three years has really ruined my life,” Johnson says.
Based on what he says police told him, Johnson believes images from his surveillance camera show the car the shooter was in, but that possible lead, and any other potential others haven’t panned out.
“No one understands what it feels like to lose a child to a homicide or to death, period, especially when it’s not solved,” Johnson says.
Johnson says his grief cost him his job, and while he remains frustrated every day, he can’t help but smile when he sees his two year old grandson, who sadly, won’t get to know his father.
“When I look at him, I look at his daddy,” Johnson says.
Johnson hopes police won’t give up.
“Maybe there’s just so much going on in Memphis but, and that is just one young black man who got killed and I know all lives matter but this is my son and I want some type of closure,” Johnson says.
He asks anyone with information to call the police.
MPD is checking on this case for us, but did not have any information for us today.