Coolidge Man Charged With First Degree Murder

PHOENIX, ARIZONA -- The United States Attorneys Office for the District of Arizona announced that on June 6, 2006, a federal grand jury at Phoenix, Arizona, returned a three-count indictment against 18-year-old Terrence Johns, an Indian, of Coolidge, AZ. The federal indictment charges Terrence Johns with violating Title 18 U.S.C. Section 1111, First Degree Murder and 18 U.S.C. Section 113, Aggravated Assault (two counts). The indictment alleges that, while on the Gila River Indian Reservation, defendant repeatedly stabbed the victim, an Indian, with the knife, causing his death. Defendant is currently being detained pending trial. A conviction for First Degree Murder carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, a $250,000 fine or both. An indictment is simply the method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by the Gila River Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution is being handled by Sharon Sexton, Assistant United States Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona.