Columbus police say no evidence backs woman’s claims of abuse in husband’s shooting
With around 15 family members and other advocates in the courtroom to support her, a Tennessee newlywed claimed she fatally shot her allegedly abusive husband in self-defense.
But Columbus police said they found no evidence to support Charise Douglas’ allegations that 38-year-old John Anthony Johnson had been abusing her.
And though defense attorney Anthony Johnson has said the husband was choking Douglas when she pulled a pistol from her purse and shot him, a detective testified the victim was shot in the upper back.
Police Sgt. Kyle Tuggle said investigators found no 911 calls or police reports of family or domestic violence at the apartment complex where Douglas and her spouse were living, and none of Douglas’ relatives told him she had been abused.
Her family said that Douglas told them that she shot her husband in self-defense, Tuggle testified.
He said investigators have secured John Anthony Johnson’s phone, along with other evidence from the shooting, but they have not downloaded any data that would show whether the husband had threatened Douglas.
Her attorney maintains that when police examine messages the couple exchanged, they will see the husband was abusive and threatening.
The testimony
Douglas, 31, faced charges of murder and using a gun to commit a crime for shooting John Anthony Johnson, who was pronounced dead at 9:34 p.m. May 1 outside an apartment in the 3800 block of Gentian Boulevard.
During her hearing in Columbus Recorder’s Court, Tuggle testified police were called the apartments at 8:59 p.m. when witnesses saw the victim lying on a grassy area near the street, apparently having run outside after he was shot.
Surveillance footage from a camera across the road showed Douglas leaving the apartments in her 2013 Chevrolet Sonic at 8:40 p.m., the officer said. Tuggle said Douglas’ family later told him she took her 6-year-old son to Memphis, where she is from, to stay with a sister.
She returned a week later and surrendered to police, who had warrants for her arrest, he said.
The couple had been married only about a week, and neighbors reported seeing them packing Douglas’ belongings into her car, and overhearing them say their relationship was “finished,” Tuggle said.
Douglas’ attorney told the court his client tried to leave her husband once before, going home to Tennessee. The husband went there and talked her into coming back, claiming their relationship would improve, but it did not, the attorney said.
He said Douglas tried to call police April 16 to report being abused. Tuggle said police found no record of that.
The attorney argued the evidence did not support charging Douglas with murder, and said manslaughter would be more appropriate.
Turning to the audience, he asked those supporting Douglas to stand, and more than a dozen women stood, some affiliated with groups advocating for victims of domestic violence.
Prosecutor Nicholas Hud told Judge Julius Hunter the evidence showed sufficient probable cause for the murder charge, as Douglas fled to another state after the shooting, and nothing backed her claims of abuse.
“She was fleeing for her life,” her attorney countered.
Hunter found the evidence was enough to send the case to Muscogee Superior Court. Douglas is being held without bond.
The reaction
Outside the courtroom, two of the women who stood to support Douglas said they were her sisters, Eva and Jemima Israel, who drove from Tennessee for the hearing.
“It’s an unfortunate event,” Eva Israel said of the shooting and alleged abuse. “But I think it had to happen for the world to see that like, it could happen to any one of us.... What are we going to do to keep it from happening to the next person?”
Douglas’ son, from a previous relationship, is unaware of his mother’s predicament, she said: “He just thinks she’s here visiting. We want to keep it like that, because we want to protect his innocence.”
Douglas’ attorney has said the boy did not witness the shooting, though he was in the apartment at the time.
Jemima Israel said the sisters knew their sibling needed their support: “She just needs us here.”
Douglas’ attorney said he was taken aback when police reported finding no evidence to support his client’s claims of abuse.
“I was surprised by that, because we have that evidence,” he said, later adding, “If we have some of that evidence, I struggle to see why they don’t, when they have an armada of police officers and investigators at their disposal.”
He said he has asked for a medical examination that could show bruising to Douglas’ neck, to support her claim that her husband was choking her when she shot him.
“It is time sensitive,” he said. “Unfortunately, we have not been able to get that done because she is confined.”
Asked about Tuggle’s testifying the husband was shot in the back, Johnson said he has not seen a report on that, and suspects the wound may be more to one side.
“What we may think is actually the back is not necessarily always the back,” he said.
Area victims of domestic or family violence can get help by calling the Hope Harbour shelter crisis line at 800-334-2836 or 706-324-3850.
This story was originally published May 19, 2021 at 12:48 PM.