HOUSTON — A 51-year-old man is facing a murder charge after authorities said he shot and killed a customer during a dispute over repairs.
Alton W. Fuller was charged after Houston police said their investigation revealed he killed Donnell Johnson, 49, on Aug. 20.
It happened around 5 p.m. Tuesday at the One Stop Auto and Collision repair shop along the southbound feeder road of the Eastex Freeway just north of I-10.
Houston police responded to the shop and found Johnson unresponsive on the garage ground with apparent gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene around 5:30 p.m.
While they were investigating, authorities said, Fuller showed up and told them he was the person who shot Johnson and that he would explain what happened. He also handed over two pistols he said he used in the shooting, according to court documents.
Interviewing Fuller
While he was being interviewed, Fuller told investigators that he was fixing Johnson's vehicle and they had argued over repairs in the past. He said Johnson had called him before the shooting and told him he was coming to beat him up and kill him, according to court documents.
Fuller told them that when Johnson showed up at the garage, he thought he saw him reach into his pocket, so he pulled out a gun and pulled the trigger, but the gun jammed. Fuller said he then pulled out another gun and shot Johnson at least three times, according to court documents. Investigators said Fuller told them he never saw Johnson with a weapon.
What did the surveillance video show?
Authorities said they reviewed the shop's surveillance video, which showed Johnson entering the garage just before 5 p.m.
They said the video showed him walking toward Fuller, who started shooting when Johnson was about 10 feet away. That's when, according to investigators, Johnson fell to the ground.
They said the video showed Fuller standing over Johnson, yelling at him and then kicking him. Authorities said he then fired one more shot as he lay on the ground.
Investigators said the video showed Fuller put down the gun and grab another gun before shooting Johnson again as he lay on the ground.
Detectives said the video showed the shooting happened around 5 p.m. but 911 wasn't called until 5:23 p.m.
Looking into call records
Investigators searched Fuller's phone to find out what communication was had before the shooting. They said the text message history showed an ongoing dispute over vehicle repairs but no threats had been made via text.
The call history showed that Johnson called Fuller on the day of the shooting around 3:48 p.m. but Fuller didn't answer, according to investigators.
Authorities said the call log showed that Johnson tried to call Fuller again at 4:57 p.m. but the call was missed again.
No voicemails were left after either of those calls.
The records showed that Johnson again called Fuller 1 minute later, at 4:58 p.m., and the call lasted 17 seconds. The 4:58 p.m. timestamp was the same time the surveillance video showed Johnson entering the repair shop, authorities said.
There were no prior police reports involving issues between Fuller and Johnson.