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Wife pleads for answers on birthday of pawn shop worker killed in 2017

By Mark Barber
By Mark Barber

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The widow of a murdered Charlotte man worries the case is growing cold, so she's taking action to fight for justice.

"I'll always miss him," Tomiko Johnson said.

Johnson said she felt like she was shot through the heart when she learned her husband was shot to death in August 2017.

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"This is something you never heal from,” she said. “You learn to live with it, but you never heal.”

Her husband, Raymond Johnson III, was killed when he was leaving his job at a pawn shop at the corner of Monroe Road and Fugate Avenue.

In all the months that have passed, his family's tears still haven't dried and they still don't have answers.

"No suspects, no leads, we rarely hear from the Police Department at all,” Johnson said. “I feel like I have to pick up the pieces. I'm going to fight for justice to the end. I feel like the family doesn't have closure until we know who and why."

Johnson isn't the type to run to the spotlight and doesn't enjoy media attention, but she talked to Channel 9 on Friday because she's organizing a vigil where her husband worked.

"I'm praying that they'll watch and see how much he was loved and that if anyone does know something they'll come forward," Johnson said.

The vigil will be at the pawn shop at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. the night Johnson would've turned 44, at the corner of Monroe Road and Fugate Avenue.

His youngest daughter is now 14.

"I'm just holding on to the good times and good memories to help me get through," Johnson said.

When Johnson wiped her tears away on Friday, she turned away from Channel 9's camera, but she looked directly into when she gave her final plea to the killer.

"Do the right thing, you can't be living in peace knowing that you've done this and made so many people suffer so much,” Johnson said. “Please do the right thing and turn yourselves in."

Johnson said her husband was a family man and didn't have enemies, so the motive in the case is a complete mystery.

Channel 9 asked police for an update, and CMPD said it still hasn't made any arrests, but it is still investigating.

Family members and friends gathered at a candlelight vigil Friday night to bring attention to the case they believe is going cold.

Crime Stoppers is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.

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