Marcus Johnson Executed in Georgia

Marcus Johnson, Georgia

November 19, 2015

Marcus Ray Johnson was executed on Thursday, November 19, 2015, by the state of Georgia. Marcus was pronounced dead at 10:11 pm, inside the execution chamber at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, Georgia. He was 50 years of age. He was executed for the rape and murder of 34-year-old Angela Sizemore on March 24, 1994, in Albany, Georgia. Marcus spent the last 27 years on Georgia’s death row.

During the very early morning hours of March 24, 1994, Angela Sizemore and Marcus Johnson were both drinking at a local bar in Albany, Georgia. According to witnesses, Johnson was upset because he had been rejected by a woman earlier in the evening. Angela was mourning the loss of a friend and had been cut off due to her excessive drinking. Johnson and Angela were seen by the bar owner and a security officer kissing, and, later, leaving together. The bartender specifically remembered giving Angela’s car keys to Johnson around 2:30 am.

At approximately 8:00 am, on March 24, 1994, Angela’s body was discovered in her vehicle behind an apartment complex, across town from the bar where she was last seen. She was found lying across the front passenger seat, stabbed to death. Two witnesses testified that they saw Johnson walking away from the apartment complex where Angela was found, approximately one hour earlier. The witnesses testified that Johnson drew their attention because he was out of place in the predominately African-American neighborhood.

Police eventually determined that Angela had been murdered in a vacant lot that was two blocks from the bar where Angela and Johnson met the night before. It was also less than a block from the house where Johnson lived with his mother. When police went to arrest Johnson, he blurted out, “I’m Marcus Ray Johnson. I’m the person you’re looking for,” before the police were able to tell Johnson why he was under arrest.

DNA testing showed that Angela’s blood was on the clothing Johnson was wearing that night. The dozens of stab wounds matched Johnson’s pocket knife. Johnson eventually confessed that he and Angela had sex in a vacant lot, after which he “lost it” because she wanted to snuggle and he did not. He remembered hitting her and walking away.  Johnson does not remember anything else until the following morning when he woke up in his front yard.

On October 2, 1994, Johnson was able to escape from the Miller County jail, where he was being held for trial, by stealing the 76-year-old deputy’s weapon. Johnson struck the officer on the back of the head, requiring him to get staples. Johnson was recaptured the following day.

Pray for peace and healing for the family of Angela. Pray for strength for the family of Marcus Johnson.

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