Thomas Johnson was angry Monday about his situation in life, police said.
The former Skyline High School Raiders star andTexas A&M was out of football and out of his home. And police say he took out his rage on a jogger he hacked to death at random Monday morning in northeast Dallas.
Authorities said Johnson, 21, admitted to detectives that he used a “large bladed knife” to kill 53-year-old David Stevens just before 8 a.m. on the White Rock Creek Trail.
“It appears Mr. Johnson picked this victim at random. Absolutely random,” Deputy Chief Rob Sherwin said. “He just attacked him. … It’s just very unusual. It’s quite shocking.”
Johnson walked away from the scene and asked a man a few blocks away if he could use his cellphone to call 911, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Another man had also called 911 and said he saw a man in a hooded sweatshirt hit a jogger several times in the head with a sword.
Thomas Johnson in jail (left) and in Aggie apparel (right).
Police said Johnson told dispatchers that there was a man on the trail “laying down with a sword in his head and not moving.”
That’s how police found the Stevens, who Dallas Fire-Rescue took to Texas Health Presbyterian of Dallas. Johnson, who had taken the man with the cellphone and another man to see the body, sat next to a concrete pillar nearby, police said.
When police showed up, Johnson allegedly told an officer, “I need to talk to you.”
Johnson, who had blood on his pants, told the officer, “I just committed capital murder,” according to an arrest warrant affidavit. He repeated the sentence.
The officer asked what he meant. Police said Johnson replied, “It’s like when you don’t wake up.”
Johnson has been charged with murder. He is currently in the Dallas County jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.
Stevens died at a nearby hospital. He was identified by Dallas police late Tuesday.
The man was one of four people killed Monday in the White Rock area. Police said the slayings are not connected at all.
Johnson hasn’t played for Texas A&M since 2012. He had three catches for 22 yards in A&M’s 29-24 win at No. 1 Alabama in 2012. He mysteriously disappeared days later. He resurfaced, unharmed and without explanation, but never played college football again.
The Aggies will host the Crimson Tide again this weekend in what would have been Johnson’s senior year. Some close to Johnson said last year he intended to return to football, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
Texas A&M athletics officials released a statement Tuesday declining to comment on Johnson.
“We are not able to discuss this situation (with Thomas Johnson) due to legal proceedings, but this is an awful tragedy for all involved,” the statement said. It went on to note that Johnson had not been involved with the program for the last three years.
But last year, Johnson was arrested on three charges — evading arrest, burglary of a habitation and auto theft — in Dallas County. He allegedly broke into his aunt’s house and stole her minivan and money.
The aunt told police then that Johnson “had been causing problems in the family for a long period of time,” according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
He declined a jailhouse interview with The Dallas Morning News then.
Skyline High wide receiver Thomas Johnson flashes a big smile, after he signed his National Letter of Intent to play college football for Texas A&M University at a ceremony held in the Skyline High School library on Wednesday, February 1, 2012. (John F. Rhodes/Special Contributor)
Johnson had received four years probation. But court records show that prosecutors wanted his probation revoked last month because Johnson tested positive for marijuana and failed to meet other conditions of his bond, including paying fees. He was also supposed to go to rehab as part of his probation.
Although the attack was apparently a random act of violence by Johnson, Deputy Police Chief Andrew Acord said in an email to residents that they should take precautions, such as bringing a friend and leaving behind valuables, before they work out on trails.
Crime scene tape stopped several cyclists in their tracks Monday morning.
Cindy Kindel, 58, said she was leery of riding the trail alone, even in the daytime. She said the stabbing Monday seemed to confirm her worst fears.
“It’s so wooded up here and it’s so dense, anyone could come out of the brush at any time here,” she said.
Kindel, who is self-employed and lives in the White Rock area, said she was going to turn around and go home. She said she will be more cautious from now on.
“It’s iffy to come out here by yourself. I’m in pretty good shape, but that wouldn’t stop anyone from knocking me off the bike,” she said. “I’m very hesitant to come out here. But I felt like it was a bright day, and it was a good time of day to come out here. But I’m always on guard when I’m here.”
But Marc Mumby, a Friends of the White Rock Creek Trail board member, said he believed the slaying was “an isolated incident.”
“The trail is still pretty darn safe,” said Mumby, 63.
Still, Mumby, who said he has biked the trail regularly for 35 years, said he was disturbed by the news that a man had died. He said he wouldn’t let his wife be alone on the trail at night and encouraged people to take precautions and ride with friends.
“This is Dallas, and it’s a city, and stuff happens,” he said. “It’s just unfortunate it happened on the trail. It’s a place where people go for recreation and fun.”
David Cole, 55, said the scene was “bizarre.”
“It makes you stand back a little bit. It’s got to be an anomaly. There’s got to be … some strange story to it.”
