Blake Hall
An active-duty United States Marine stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona was arrested Tuesday in connection with an apparent road rage incident that ended with the shooting death of a North Texas sorority girl who was filling the role of designated driver for her friends on New Year’s Eve.
According to Denton (Texas) police, Eric Jamal Johnson, 25, was taken into custody by authorities in Yuma after the U.S. Marshals Service issued a warrant for his arrest. He was wanted for the murder (in the first degree) of Sara Mutschelechner, 20, a junior at the University of North Texas.
Denton police just released this picture of 20-yr-old Sara Mutschlechner's car. She was shot while driving this a.m. pic.twitter.com/Vl7J1VRMbn
— Jason Allen (@JasonAllenLive) January 1, 2016
This from the New York Daily News:
Mutschlechner was driving in Denton about 2 a.m. Friday after attending a party with her sorority sisters from Zeta Tau Alpha when a black SUV pulled up beside them.
The SUV was carrying five or six men — and words were exchanged between the people in the SUV and passengers in Mutschlechner’s car, Denton Police Community Resource Officer Shane Kizer said at a Tuesday press conference.
“The amicable conversation quickly went downhill,” Kizer said.
Someone in the SUV, a Honda Pilot, made comments that were “very derogatory … in a sexual nature” at the women, Kizer said.
As the streetlight changed, shots were fired, and Mutschlechner was struck in the head. Her car crashed into a different vehicle before slamming into a telephone pole, police said.
The San Marcos, Tex., resident was on life support for most of the day Friday before she died, authorities said. One of her friends also suffered minor injuries.
Witnesses and social media helped authorities track down Johnson, who goes by the street name “Santana Sage,” Kizer said.
This is a photograph of the suspected killer, Johnson. According to the police he was wearing a sweatshirt that said “F*ck Everybody” at the time of the shooting.
This is the flyer for the party that — according to the affidavit — both cars and groups were coming from.
Police are saying that a few of Johnson’s associates who were riding along with him (along with maybe even the Marine himself) were part of the “Daytona Boyz”. A few of the passengers in Mutschlechner’s car identified them at the party.