A Shreveport man was found guilty Tuesday, July 9, 2019, of carrying guns into a school zone.
Tony Demarco Johns, 34, defended himself in District Judge Charles Tutt’s courtroom, with Michael Enright as standby counsel. Assistant District Attorneys Kodie K. Smith and William Gaskins prosecuted.
The eight-woman, four-man jury empanelled Monday, July 8, 2019, heard the facts of the case. On July 20, 2017, the Shreveport Police Department received a call of an armed person. Upon arrival officers saw Tony Johns openly carrying a .223-caliber fully loaded rifle and a fully loaded Mac-10 style handgun in his waistband. He was seen with these weapons 72 feet from the entrance of Cherokee Park Elementary School, which is within a 1,000-foot firearm-free zone that prohibits the carrying of firearms. A gun-free zone sign was posted at the entrance of the school where Johns was seen walking.
After deliberating 45 minutes, the jury unanimously convicted Johns as charged of the offense of carrying a firearm or dangerous weapon by a student of non-student at a school or within 1,000 feet of a school campus.
When Johns returns to face Judge Tutt for sentencing August 12, 2019, he faces a sentence of up to five years at hard labor.