A Shreveport man convicted earlier this month of beating and robbing an acquaintance over a monetary dispute was sentenced Wednesday, May 29, 2024 to serve the maximum prison time for the crime, 40 years at hard labor.
Johnny “Pooh” Thompson Jr., 47, was found guilty as charged of second-degree robbery May 7, 2024, in District Judge Michael Pitman’s court.
On April 2, 2022, victim Robert Wayne Williams, went to a friend’s house on Audrey Lane to play dominoes, during which time he placed money on the kitchen table. While Williams and his friend drank and played dominoes, Thompson arrived and, seeing the money, confronted Williams about $60 he owed him. Thompson demanded the money and struck Williams in the face. Thompson continued to strike Williams, despite efforts by the friend to stop the beating. Williams, beaten unconscious, was then dragged by Thompson out of the house and into a car to be taken to an abandoned house on Kelsey Street, about a mile away.
Williams was found by officers, disoriented and unable to say how he got there. He was transported to Ochsner LSU Health and over time was taken to a nursing facility, and then hospice, where he died in February 2023, about 10 months the after the altercation with Thompson. However complicating health factors led to a determination that Williams died from natural causes.
Thompson was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Victoria Washington and Sam Crichton. He was defended by Michael Enright.
The case was docket No. 391914.
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