Jordan Johnson

Jordan Johnson

Man Killed 8-Year-Old Daughter, Then Himself

Thursday, January 31, 2008
Man Killed 8-Year-Old Daughter, Then Himself

Wife Found Bodies Two Hours After Argument, Authorities Say

INDIANAPOLIS -- A man shot and killed his 8-year-old daughter before fatally shooting himself in an east-side Indianapolis house Wednesday afternoon, police said. The bodies of Dwayne Johnson Jr., 28, and his daughter, Jordan Johnson, were found inside the house in the 3900 block of Fletcher Avenue, police said.

Police said the man had argued with his wife, Ginger, in the house at about 3 p.m. Wednesday, and that the wife left. Shortly after 5 p.m., the wife returned with her mother and found the bodies, according to police.

Johnson's wife called 911, and medics and officers who arrived determined the man and the child were dead, police said. Authorities said they believe the man and his daughter were the only ones inside the house when the shootings happened.

Relatives said Johnson and his wife were having marital problems. "I know that they were in the process of starting a divorce, and he didn't want (his wife) to have (their daughter)," Johnson's aunt Donna Allen told 6News' Renee Jameson. "I guess he just couldn't wait until it went through the court systems. He took his way out instead. Police said they had no record of any prior problems at the address where the shootings occurred.

Also this:

Friends and family remember girl shot by father

Updated: Feb 20, 2008 12:30 PM EST

A child holds a candle at the vigil for Jordan Johnson Saturday.

Richard Essex

Eyewitness News

Indianapolis - A candlelight vigil was held Saturday night for a young girl police say was shot and killed by her father.

Dwayne Johnson allegedly shot his eight-year-old daughter Jordan in the back bedroom of the family's home on Fletcher Avenue Wednesday before turning the gun on himself. The girl's mother, Ginger, found her husband and daughter dead when she returned home that afternoon.

Police say the Johnsons were on the verge of divorce. At the vigil remembering the little girl, friends, family and neighbors tried to come to grips with her death. One mother struggled to explain the death to her own child.

"She asked questions about how it happened, and I wasn't really sure how exactly how it happened, I just told her that her and her father died and they were shot," Rachel Patterson said. "I kinda left it at that. I don't want to kind of scare her with anything else."

Friends described Jordan as a little girl that never met a stranger.

"She was real nice and kind," one child said.

Ginger Johnson didn't attend the vigil for her late daughter, but her words were heard through a written note read by Cyndi Weisheit.

"She is her mommy's love and best friend," Weisheit read. "And now her baby's with angels and God. Now please remember her for what she was, a happy, loving, caring child who loved everyone with open arms, was a good student who loved to read and write."

The funeral for Jordan Johnson will be held on Monday.