MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A woman who was once a Shelby County Sheriff's captain was arrested after she reportedly shot a salesman believing he was a hitman.
Monica Johnson-Markworth is charged with aggravated assault. She is out of jail on a bond of $4,000.
The SCSO said deputies were called to the shooting about 11:45 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, in the 1600 block of Brimhill Cv., east of Houston Levee. They found a man shot and he was taken to Regional One Hospital in critical condition.
According to the affidavit in the case, Johnson told detectives she told her son Nehemiah Rimmer, who is serving a 20-year sentence at Trousdale Turner Correctional Facility on a 2018 conviction on a charge of rape of a child, that there was a hit out for her and him by a local gang.
The affidavit said Wednesday, Johnson was sitting in her living room with her father and saw on her security cameras an "unknown subject" wearing a hoodie and carrying an assault rifle run up to the front door. According to the affidavit, she told detectives she yelled "They're here" and ran upstairs to hide in the attic.
Detectives said they determined the "unknown subject' was actually a door-to-door pest control salesman wearing a blue polo and baseball hat carrying an iPad. He had been shot in the upper torso and was taken to Regional One Hospital in critical condition.
The affidavit said deputies found bullet holes in the front door and two bullet casings in the house. It said Johnson "would not admit to shooting a gun" and said she hid in the attic. According to the affidavit, her father told detectives Johnson had fired the gun which was his for protection. The affidavit said the gun was found in a crawl space in the attic where Johnson had been hiding.
According to court records, Johnson is the former Shelby County Sheriff's captain who was fired and indicted in 2016 on charges of official misconduct and coercing a witness in her son's rape case. We have reached out to the Shelby County DA's office for an update on where that case stands.
