PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Charged with a total of seven felonies in the 2022 shooting death of 17-year-old Jesse Hogg, the aggravated murder trial for Tristan Johnson, Jr., 17, began Monday in Circuit Court.
Two neighbors who live on Sykes Avenue and Vick Street testified to what they saw and heard — and what was captured on their home surveillance video and mobile phones — the afternoon of Dec. 21, 2022 in the 100 block of Sykes Avenue near Portsmouth City Park.
One man who lives at the corner of Sykes and Vick street testified he saw four young people roll up to Sykes Avenue in the same car, a Red Kia, which the Commonwealth described as stolen. He went outside, and video from his phone had the sound of five gunshots.
The man went inside, called 911, and then went back out and found Hogg’s body lying in a front yard on Sykes Avenue.
Another neighbor testified he heard those same five shots while he was inside watching TV. He then went outside, heard five more shots for a total of 10, and called 911. While still on the phone with 911, he went to see where the shots came from and found Hogg lying in a front yard along Sykes Avenue. He told the 911 operator he couldn’t feel a pulse. According to the Commonwealth, Hogg was shot five times.
The four people were supposedly in the area to purchase Hogg’s gun.
The Commonwealth alleges that Johnson grabbed for Hogg’s gun that he had in his waistband, and then after that, several shots were fired at Hogg by two other defendants, Johnson and co-defendant Pharondus Clemon fired the second group of five.
However, Johnson’s defense attorney said it was Clemon who killed Hogg. Defense Attorney Von Piersall told the jury it was Clemon’s plot — and not Johnson’s — to rob Hogg of his gun in the first place.
Johnson was 16 at the time of Hogg’s death. The youngest of the other three defendants was just 13. His defense attorney, Nathan Chapman, told WAVY that the 13-year-old pleaded guilty to a homicide-related charge and is currently in custody in the juvenile justice system.
Clemon was 17 at the time and is set for trial in December. At 18 in December 2022, Analwah Jones was the oldest of the four defendants. She has a hearing set for July.