City police officer convicted for vehicle fatalities
Jeremy M. Lazarus | 4/27/2023, 6 p.m.
Richmond Police Officer Richard Johnson was responding to a burglary call on April 7, 2022, when he ran a red light and slammed into a car advancing on the green light at Bells and Castlewood roads in South Side.
The crash resulted in the deaths of the two teenage occupants, Jeremiah Ruffin, 18, and Tracey Williams, 19, and left the officer with a traumatic brain injury.
Now Officer Johnson is facing prison time as a result of those deaths.
A jury of seven men and five women Tuesday capped his two-day trial by convicting him of two counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of reckless driving.
Testimony showed the officer had activated his lights and turned on his siren, but failed to pause at the red light to ensure his way was clear, as state law requires.
Officer Johnson testified in his own defense.
The jury deliberated for two hours before returning their verdicts around 5:15 p.m.
On leave from the department since a special grand jury indicted him in July, he remains free pending sentencing, which is scheduled for August. He did not comment on the outcome, nor did his lawyers.
The verdict “is not a victory by any means,” Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Colette W. McEachin said after the trial. “Three families have been devastated by what happened.”
Mrs. McEachin, who participated in the prosecution, praised the jury’s attentiveness to the evidence, which “was sufficient to convince them beyond a reasonable doubt of Officer Johnson’s guilt.”
