Christopher Johnson arraigned on charge of aggravated murder in 2017 death of Akron man
A municipal court judge arraigned 30-year-old Christopher Johnson on Tuesday with one count of aggravated murder in the 2017 shooting death of Brandon Belleville.
If found guilty, the maximum sentence is life in prison, said Chief Prosecutor Craig Morgan in an email.
"On a very technical level, aggravated murder carries the potential for the imposition of the death penalty, but certain specifications would have to be added at (the) grand jury and I don’t believe this is the type of case for that potential penalty," he explained.
More charges could come when the case is presented to a Summit County grand jury, Morgan wrote. The grand jury will determine what offenses, if any, to indict Johnson.
Christopher Johnson arrested after 5 years
Members of the Akron division of Northern Ohio's fugitive task force arrested Johnson in late June in Parkersburg, West Virginia.
This came five years after Akron police and U.S. Marshals Service began searching for Johnson, according to police.
2017 shooting: Task force looking for Akron fugitive in murder case
Johnson was wanted in the Sept. 19, 2017, shooting death of Belleville. Police said Johnson and three others broke into the victim's home in the 600 block of Minerva Place and shot and killed Belleville.
The three other men, Quincy Chatman, Harold Burros and Lamarr Jackson, were all arrested and convicted in Belleville’s death.
Law enforcement including the Akron Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation acted on new information, which led to his arrest in West Virginia.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Christopher Johnson arraigned in aggravated murder in 2017 death of Akron man
