Man involved in deadly Columbia shooting sentenced to one year in jail

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man accused in a deadly spring 2020 shooting was sentenced Friday to a year in the Boone County Jail.

Robert Junior Johnson pleaded guilty to two Class E felonies -- drug possession and tampering with evidence. He will serve two one-year concurring sentences. He appeared in court via jail video.

Johnson had been in the Department of Corrections for failing to appear to in court on a warrant in June 2022. He has been jailed for over 600 days so the court gave him one year of credit for his time served.

He was additionally charged with accessory to first-degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon for the May 25, 2020 shooting. However, the court dismissed those charges.

Johnson was accused of using a gun to keep a crowd away as Bobby Dawson took Jamal Jones behind a residence and shot him on Quail Drive. He died in a hospital two days later.

In June 2020, Johnson claimed innocence, saying he was at the scene of the crime but did not take part in the shooting.

Police say he allegedly was pointing a gun at a crowd as Dawson followed Jones.

Johnson said at the time that he believes police suspected he was involved because he would not give information about the shooting. He said he was carrying his own gun for protection.

Dawson was found guilty of first-degree murder by a jury in August. He was also charged with armed criminal action.