A convicted felon arrested last week for violating a no-contact order following the shooting of his wife was charged Tuesday with felony counts of domestic battery and having a firearm after further investigation.
Nelson Green Johnson, 37, who has remained in custody since his arrest Sept. 11 in lieu of $105,000 bond, was formally charged around 2 p.m. Tuesday with first-degree domestic battery and possession of a firearm by certain persons, each punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Johnson's bond was increased to $355,000 and he was set to appear Wednesday on the new charges in Garland County District Court. Johnson had appeared via video in district court on Sept. 12 and pleaded not guilty to the violation of a no-contact order charge and is set to stand trial on that charge on Nov. 15.
According to the probable cause affidavit on the new charges, at around 7:30 a.m. Sept. 11 Hot Springs police responded to a reported shooting on Carpenter Dam Road at Lakepark Drive and found a woman, 37, on the roadside who had a large abrasion to her right forearm and a small wound to the right side of her neck.
The woman told Officer Cash Murray she had been shot by her husband, identified as Johnson. She said she had just left her place of employment when Johnson "crawled out of the trunk and into the passenger area" of her 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix and shot her in the neck.
She said she struggled with Johnson and then exited the vehicle and Johnson shot her twice more, in the left shoulder and right breast. He then allegedly pulled her into the passenger side of the vehicle and with the passenger door still open turned left onto Carpenter Dam from Lakepark Drive, causing her to be ejected from the car onto the roadway.
A .22-caliber revolver was found in the roadway near where the victim was ejected, the affidavit said. The woman was airlifted from the scene to UAMS for treatment of her injuries and initially listed in serious condition.
Johnson reportedly contacted police and told them he had wrecked the Grand Prix and advised them of his location. At 7:45 a.m., Sgt. Richard Harkness located Johnson walking on Casey Street and took him into custody without incident. A few minutes later, the Grand Prix was located about 50 yards off the roadway in the 600 block of Grand Point Drive.
A criminal history check revealed Johnson was previously convicted of a felony count of fraudulent use of a credit card on Sept. 25, 2009, and commercial burglary in 2001, both in Phillips County.
Johnson was previously arrested on March 1 on a felony charge of second-degree domestic battery involving his wife after he allegedly drove over her legs and left hand with his car during a confrontation on Feb. 26.
Johnson had remained in custody on zero bond and pleaded not guilty to the charge on May 1. He was later released on $5,000 bond on July 6 and a court order barring him from contact with the victim was issued.
Local on 09/20/2018