SHELBYVILLE, IL. —
A Shelbyville man pleaded guilty to second degree murder Thursday in Montgomery County circuit court in the December 2010 death of a rural Ramsey victim.
Cody L. Johnston, 20, wearing a black and white striped jail jumpsuit and softly responding to questions from the judge, admitted shooting John L. Russell, 50, between 6-9 a.m. on Dec. 13, 2010, at the victim's address on Stump Lane in Audubon Township in eastern Montgomery County.
Johnston was charged with aggravated battery with a firearm and unlawful restraint immediately after the crime, and a Montgomery County grand jury indicted him on a charge of first degree murder three months later. Those charges were dropped in exchange for the second degree murder plea.
A jury trial on the original charges was scheduled to begin in front of Judge Michael Kiley on Thursday, but instead, Johnston pleaded guilty to second degree murder in what State's Attorney Chris Matoush called a "partially negotiated" plea.
Second degree murder typically carries a sentencing range of four to 20 years in prison, but according to the plea agreement, Johnston will be sentenced to between 10 and 20 years followed by two years of mandatory supervised release.
"Essentially, we're taking the lower half of the sentencing range off the table," Matoush said in court Thursday.
According to the amended second degree murder count, Johnston "knowingly killed John Lee Russell by shooting him with a firearm, and at the time of the killing, he believed the circumstances to be such that, if they existed, would justify the killing, but his belief was unreasonable."
In presenting factual basis for the charge, Matoush said Johnston had been living with the victim for two months prior to the shooting, cooperating with Illinois State Police and the Shelby County Sheriff's Department to build a gun and drug case against the victim. According to court records, the victim, too, had been convicted of second degree murder in 1992.
The day before the shooting, a verbal altercation between the two escalated to a physical confrontation in which the defendant bound the victim in an out-building on the property. He then attempted to call his police connections, but was unable to make contact.
Fourteen to 16 hours later, the victim was unbound, and Johnston told police he ran toward a trailer saying he was going to get a gun.
When he saw Russell return with a pistol, Johnston fired with an AR-15 assault rifle. He covered the body and went to the Shelby County deputy's house, told him what happened, and gave him the murder weapon.
Police discovered a cocked .22 pistol in the snow next to the victim's body, and an autopsy revealed three entry wounds from AR-15 rounds.
Johnston was represented in the case by attorney Walter Lookofsky of Shelbyville. Judge Kiley ordered a pre-sentence investigation and set a sentencing hearing for 9 a.m. on March 2.
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Cody Johnson Plead Guilty to Second Degree Murder
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