After careful deliberation, Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins announced today that the District Attorney’s Office will seek the death penalty penalty against Matthew Lee Johnson, age 36, for allegedly robbing a convenience store in Garland and setting the 76-year-old store clerk on fire on May 20, 2012. The victim died in the hospital five days later. A Dallas County Grand Jury indicted Johnson for capital murder on June 21, 2012.
Johnson’s defense attorney, Catherine Bernhard, has been notified of the State’s intent to seek the death penalty. Mr. Johnson is currently being held on a $2,000,000 million bond in the Lew Sterrett Justice Center awaiting trial. The case will be tried by Administrative Chief Andrea Moseley.
