The case concerning a man suspected of a heinous crime reached its conclusion last Friday. The individual in question, Earnest Lee Johnson, aged 28, had been indicted earlier in March 2021. He was deemed responsible for a series of crimes that included malice murder, felony murder, kidnapping, and second-degree arson, among other charges. These charges were linked to his connection to the violent end of 23-year-old Chanceler McCall.
At approximately 6 p.m. on December 28, 2020, the local authorities of DeKalb County were alerted about an individual suffering from a gunshot wound at Donnell Way in Decatur. Upon their arrival, the officers discovered an eerie scene: quite a few ammunition cases and a significant amount of blood on the roadway. The officers, however, were puzzled by the absence of a victim or any individuals in the vicinity.
The officers noticed a few details that painted a grim picture. Indications were that someone had made an attempt to rinse away the blood, leaving a chilling clue of the crime. A water hose was discovered in the front lawn of an adjacent property – still dribbling water. Visual inspection of the site revealed two parked vehicles—a Kia Soul riddled with bullet holes and a Chrysler car situated nearby.
In addition to the two vehicles at the scene, there was another car, a Pontiac G6. This vehicle was stationed right outside the house, on the street. The investigators would later discover this car was owned by Johnson. Subsequent to these discoveries, the investigative team collected the shell casing and blood samples as vital pieces of evidence.
Local residents, who had been witnesses to the ominous situation, shared their accounts with the detectives. They asserted that they had heard the sound of gunfire and had observed two individuals discreetly moving a body into the back of a dark-colored vehicle before driving off. Their testimonies added another piece to the murder puzzle that the police were trying to piece together.
Two days post the incident, the mother of Chanceler McCall approached the DeKalb County Police Department (DKPD) with a missing persons report for her son. Crime Stoppers Greater Atlanta further circulated photos of McCall to aid in his search. In conversation with the police, McCall’s mother revealed that her son was last seen driving a maroon Dodge Challenger on the day of the incident—December 28, 2020.
The victim’s mother also shared crucial details about her son’s relationship with Johnson. It turned out that McCall had been entangled in an ongoing dispute with Johnson, providing investigators with a possible motive for the murder. The significance of this information was further compounded when a DNA sample from McCall’s mother, compared with the blood at the crime scene, confirmed that the blood indeed belonged to her son.
On December 29, 2020, a significant discovery was made. The law enforcement officials found McCall’s vehicle left in a deserted area, burnt and abandoned. This location was around a mile and a half from the initial crime scene, intensifying the mystery surrounding his disappearance.
Adding to the numerous suspicious circumstances linked to this case, authorities unearthed another unsettling detail. Johnson’s vehicle was found ablaze in a shopping center located in Conyers the same day McCall’s vehicle was found. Even more disturbing, an accelerant was discovered on the front seat of the car, suggesting that it had played a role in the fire.
Fast forward to December 2021, investigators unearthed human skeletal remains close to I-20 in Morgan County. After extensive examination, the remains were identified as those of Chanceler McCall, marking a sorrowful end to the missing person’s case and shifting the narrative towards a homicide investigation.
Johnson, the key suspect in the murder of McCall, was apprehended by authorities on March 10, 2021. The reprehensible nature of his crimes and the overwhelming evidence against him swiftly led to his indictment on various charges connected to McCall’s murder.
In a disconcerting revelation, the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office stated that Johnson’s browsing history had unveiled searches related to ‘self-defense definition,’ ‘malice aforethought,’ ‘manslaughter,’ ‘homicide’, among others. These searches were executed in the days right before McCall’s murder, incriminating Johnson’s intent beyond any doubt.
This case, with its tragic outcome and damning evidence, is now set to enter the final phase of justice: sentencing. A judge from DeKalb County will soon decide on the fate of Johnson for his gruesome actions. This day will mark the culmination of a lengthy investigation marked by mystery, intrigue, and sadly, loss.