A Tennessee man killed his 21-year-old girlfriend, Madison Johnson, while she was on FaceTime with her mother. The grieving mother watched the events unfold virtually and called 911, but it was too late. Jair Romario Martin, 28, will now spend his life behind bars for murdering Madison and her friend Heidi Johnson, 20, who witnessed the murder.
The unfortunate event unfolded on the morning of May 13, 2023 when Madison was on a video call with her mother and told that Martin was being aggressive. In a state of fear and anger, she told that her boyfriend was refusing to let her leave the house by barricading the door. The mother saw a gun in Martin’s hand and she immediately called 911.
Martin was heard on call saying, “Madison, don’t leave like that,” and “you are going to get murdered.”
May 2023. Knoxville, Tennessee. Heidi Johnson and her friend, 22-year-old Madison Johnson, were found fatally shot inside a home. 26-year-old Jair Romario Martin has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Motive and any relationship between the suspect and his 2… https://t.co/FBbYZoSENU pic.twitter.com/XifknK6jdd
— The Sentinel (@sentinelpatrol) May 18, 2023
As per media reports, Madison told Martin to stop pointing a gun at her. “I’m going to murder you,” he responded before firing several shots at her. After hearing the gunshots, Heidi screamed in panic, “Oh my god.” Martin then turned to her and shot her to death. As per the investigation, a total of 10 shots were fired before Martin fled the crime scene.
After shooting Madison to death, Martin also carved a fork in her head. The gun was found in a bush outside the house.
Knoxville police responded to Madison’s mother’s call, and when they reached the house in Woodlawn Pike in South Knoxville, they found Heidi dead in the hallway and Madison dead in a room, as per WBIR.
On their way to the crime scene, they had spotted Martin walking down the street, However, at that time, he hadn’t been identified as a suspect and appeared “very calm”. He reportedly told the officers a fake name and said that he heard gunshots. And so, the authorities let him go before the special operations team arrived. However, as the investigation began, he was arrested a few days later upon receiving a tip. The woman who gave the tip knew both the victims. She told that when she asked Martin why he killed them, he revealed that they kept stealing his drugs.
He was found hiding in a bedroom closet of an apartment in the Lonsdale neighborhood in Knoxville. The cops told that he was found under the influence of drugs and they took him to the hospital for treatment. He said that he “blacked out” while shooting the young women.
An 11-minute footage of the outdoor security camera captured the audio of an argument followed by gunshots. As the prosecutors played the audio during the sentence hearing, the families of victims burst into tears. Some covered their ears because they found it hard to hear the tragic audio. A few even left the courtroom.
Martin pled guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, and one count each of criminal impersonation and evading arrest, as per the press release by Knox County District Attorney’s Office.
The sentence hearing lasted for nearly four hours and Judge Scott Green sentenced him to life behind bars without the possibility of parole.
Madison’s mother believes that her daughter would have been alive if Martin just let her leave the house. She said, “Madison asked him to let her leave. He wouldn’t. He barricaded them in. All they wanted was to leave and go home. He showed them no mercy that day, and I ask you show him none.”
The judge agreed to the victim’s mother’s plea.
The judge said, “You didn’t just kill Madison. It was heinous, atrocious, crude. Your anger and rage that we heard manifested what you did to her body, driving a double-prong fork into her body that penetrated her skull. After you killed her, you turned on her best friend, put multiple bullets into her body and killed her as well,” as reported by Law & Crime.
Heidi’s heartbroken mother told the court, “Madison’s family and my family have received a life sentence: a life sentence of grief, wondering what would have happened to her.”
