Jury Recommends Life Sentence: Man Found Guilty of Stabbing Housemate in 2013

On August 17 and 18, 2015, a trial was held in the Charlotte County Circuit Court to hear the charge of murder against Walter Johnson, age 62, of Drakes Branch. The Jury hearing the case returned a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree against Johnson in the stabbing death of Robert Lewis Younger, age 65, also of Drakes Branch. Court documents revealed that the altercation that led to Younger’s murder occurred on November 26, 2013. The same documents show that Johnson was arrested and charged with the crime the very next day.

According to a press release from the Charlotte County Sheriff’s office, the incident came about as a result of a disagreement that escalated between the two men who lived together in the Drakes Branch area. Younger was pronounced dead on the scene by the responding Rescue Squad. The Medical Examiner determined the cause of death to be homicide and further determined the manner of that homicide was by stabbing. Undisclosed sources have indicated that the victim was stabbed more than seventy-five times. The Jury in the case recommended that Walter Johnson be sentenced to life imprisonment in the State Penitentiary. Johnson will appear in the Charlotte County Circuit Court for formal sentencing on September 16, 2015.