Post by Scumhunter on Aug 27, 2017 1:04:55 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: mypalmbeachpost.com)
From mypalmbeachpost.com:
WEST PALM BEACH —
It’s been nearly two years since worried friends asked police to check on Alex Johnson at his West Palm Beach apartment, where they found the 22-year-old waiter dead. Now, rewards of up to $12,000 have been posted in his unsolved murder.
Johnson, who lived alone, was found dead on Sept. 15, 2015, detective Andrea Branch said Tuesday.
Police have put up $5,000 and CrimeStoppers will pay up to $3,000. Johnson’s mother has put up $2,500 and plans to increase that to $4,000.
“He was killed 10 days before his 23rd birthday,” Lynn Perez said Tuesday.
“Alex was my first-born. I had him very young,” Perez said. “We kind of grew up together like friends. You have your issues when they become teenagers and young adults but —” her voice caught — “Alex and I were very close.”
Police don’t want to provide many details, including a potential motive or the cause of death, and don’t want to say how long Johnson was dead except to say it was hours rather than days.
“I feel as if it was just a simple, stupid robbery,” Perez said. She said the killer “maybe knew of him (Alex), or was a ‘friend of a friend,’ or (part of) a circle of friends.” She said that might make it harder to find his killer, but that the reward might help.
Perez said her son “didn’t have any enemies. Alex was a very friendly, easygoing, fun-loving kind of person.”
Perez, a nurse, said Alex “wanted to do something in the medical field, nursing or pharmacy.” She said he was single and focused on work and school.
Johnson was born in Broward County but grew up in Palm Beach County and graduated from Palm Beach Gardens High, his mother said. He spent a year and a half at Florida A&M University, then was at Tallahassee Community College before returning home. He was studying at Palm Beach State and working at the Duffy’s restaurant on PGA Boulevard when he was killed.
Johnson worked for about a year at Duffy’s, spokeswoman Sandy Nelson said Tuesday from the chain’s corporate office in Lake Worth.
“He was very well-liked by the staff,” Nelson said. She said more than a dozen associates attended Johnson’s funeral.
West Palm Beach police said Tuesday that Johnson had never had a local arrest, just traffic infractions.
Tallahassee-area court records show that in April 2014, Johnson was charged with theft and grand theft and sentenced to one year of probation. In November 2014, he was arrested in Tallahassee and charged with robbery, kidnapping and battery. Those charges later were dropped.
Legal problems were part of the reason Johnson came back to Palm Beach County, Perez said Tuesday.
“Alex trusted people that he probably shouldn’t have trusted,” Perez said. She said her son planned to take advantage of the break the courts had given him and turn around his life in Palm Beach County. She said she doesn’t believe his troubles in Tallahassee were in any way related to his murder.
Perez has filed a lawsuit in Palm Beach County Circuit Court that claims the Paradise Cove complex, where Johnson lived, failed to provide adequate security even though crimes had occurred nearby. Perez is seeking an unspecified amount in damages for herself and Johnson’s father, Jervis Johnson, whom Perez said Tuesday lives out of the country. Alex Johnson also had a younger brother.
The suit also names the condominium association, managers GRS Management and the unit owner of the complex near Palm Beach Lakes and Village boulevards. A call and email Tuesday to GRS weren’t returned.
Anyone with information about Alex Johnson’s murder should contact West Palm Beach detectives Ryan Patterson or Andrea Branch at 561-822-1658 or 561-822-1691, or at 866-312-7193, or contact Palm Beach County CrimeStoppers at 800-458-TIPS (8477).
www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/reward-000-unsolved-2015-west-palm-beach-death/emrdSRhxvAtnzii27oS6pJ/
Thoughts?
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