Mom seeks answers in son’s death

Published 10:38 pm Monday, August 17, 2015

A sign has been erected along Alabama 14, where a 26-year-old man was found dead July 26.

A sign has been erected along Alabama 14, where a 26-year-old man was found dead July 26.

A white poster board now sits where Dallas County Road 209 meets Alabama Highway 14 with a senior portrait and a baby picture of 26-year-old Joseph Johnson.

Johnson was found dead on the side of the road after a hit and run between 2:30 a.m. and sunrise July 26.

“My whole world has been ripped and turned upside down,” said Leighea Johnson, Joseph’s mother. “It is hard to breathe. It is hard to think. It is just so devastating.”

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The sign, which was placed there by Leighea Saturday morning, reads, “I died here. Please help my mom. My family needs answers.”

“My heart is broken, and I’m crushed. I need some answers as to what happened and why,” Leighea said. “The person that did this knows they did it … and I would just like to talk to that person and see why and what happened.”

Leighea also spent the weekend handing out flyers at Gabe’s Corner, Mr. Waffle and other places her son may have visited that night. She hopes someone will see her son’s face and get the courage to tell the truth about what happened that night.

“We’re hoping that someone knows some kind of information,” Leighea said. “I hope this gets their attention and either makes them feel guilty or at least some remorse and want to tell me that they thought it was a deer or dog and would not have left him there alone.”

Leighea said she remembers the night before her son’s death very well, and it is a day she’ll never forget.

“My son left my house in Autauga County after dark around 8:30 p.m. or 9 p.m. going to see his friend down there,” Leighea said. “He called and talked to his dad before he left about driving his dad’s truck instead of taking his car, and we had played at the park that day before he left and had a very good day.”

Leighea said her son liked to walk when something was bothering him, which is why he may have been walking down the road in the middle of the night.

“The friend said they had an argument at Gabe’s Store in the wee hours of the morning and that supposedly Joseph walked off, and he did not know what direction he went, and that was it,” Leighea said. “That is all I know.”

A few hours later she received the dreadful news that her son was found on the side of the road dead from a hit and run.

“At about 8 a.m. the next morning my brother-in-law found me at my friend’s house and told me that they had found my son,” Leighea said.

According to Leighea, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is still investigating the hit and run, hoping someone comes forward with more information.

“They are investigating it still, and I have not heard back from investigators because they were waiting on forensics to give them some more clues because my son was hit and left alone on the road,” Leighea said.

Corporal Jess Thornton with ALEA said the hit and run is still under investigation and is relying on help from the public to help solve the case.

“Our traffic homicide investigators continue to investigate this crash. We are relying on the public’s assistance with this collision more than anything,” Thornton said. “Many times a hit and run crash is solved by a witness or the public’s awareness of the incident and willingness to come forth and bring closure to this case and for the family.”

Anyone with information is asked to call ALEA at 874-8234 or the Secret Witness line at 874-2190.