Columbus woman was being choked when she shot and killed husband in self-defense, attorney says
The newlywed charged in her husband’s May 1 fatal shooting in Columbus pulled a pistol from her purse and shot him because he was choking her, her attorney said Thursday.
Charise Douglas, 31, is accused of killing 38-year-old John Anthony Johnson, who was pronounced dead at 9:34 p.m. outside a home in the 3800 block of Gentian Boulevard. She was to face charges of murder and using a gun to commit a crime in a hearing Thursday in Columbus Recorder’s Court, but it was postponed to 9 a.m. Wednesday because the lead detective in the case is in training.
Douglas’ attorney, Anthony Johnson, who is not related to the victim, spoke to reporters outside the courtroom, saying he intends to argue his client was a victim of domestic violence, and shot her husband in defense of herself and her 6-year-old son.
“He almost choked her to death,” the attorney said. “She was getting ready to leave the home, so she had already packed.” She was wearing her purse with the handgun in it, so she pulled the gun out and shot him, Johnson said.
The victim ran out of the home to the street, where police found him.
Douglas’ son was not in the room when the shooting happened, but she was defending him as well, the attorney said: “She believes not only that she would have been killed, but there was a minor child involved as well, that could have subsequently been killed.”
Georgia law allows residents to use deadly force in defense of themselves or others, and he will argue that Douglas’ actions were justified under that statute, Johnson said.
“At the time of the incident, Ms. Douglas actually was fleeing for her life,” he said. “She had made it known that she no longer would suffer abuse, so she was at the point of transitioning to leaving to be back with her family, and then, that’s the point at which Mr. Johnson began physically abusing her again.”
Douglas had moved here from Tennessee, and she and her husband had been married about a month, the attorney said. The victim was not the father of her son, he said.
“The child was at the home, but not in the room,” he said of the shooting. “Other family members are taking care of him.”
The attorney said Douglas’ husband adhered to the religious belief that wives are subservient to their husbands.
“The expectation for Ms. Douglas was that she was to be completely submissive at all times and all facets of her life, in the context that she did not have a bank account that was in her name,” he said. “It had to be in her husband’s name, and she had to do whatever her husband wanted her to do, whenever he wanted her to do it, so it was effectively exercising dominion and control over Ms. Charise.”
This led to threats and abuse that Johnson said he believes will be evidenced by cell phone communications between the two, when police review those exchanges in further investigation.
“We believe that when CPD gets the phones and extracts them, it’s going to show a history of abuse, both physical as well as verbal abuse, between the communications of Ms. Douglas and Mr. Johnson,” the attorney said.
Meanwhile Douglas remains held without bond in the Muscogee County Jail, awaiting her preliminary hearing.
“She doesn’t have any previous record or anything, so this is really her first real contact with the court,” Johnson said. “You’re not going to see that she is some violent person, or she was out in the streets, or anything along those lines..... She’s never been in a situation like this, so she’s very nervous.”
This story was originally published May 13, 2021 at 11:57 AM.