Sheriff Frank McKeithen held a press conference this afternoon at the Bay County Sheriff’s Office to release details in the Allen Johnson homicide case and the arrest of the man believed responsible for Johnson’s death.
Johnson was discovered deceased on July 21, 2014, at about 1:43 PM in his residence on Wilson Avenue when family members, concerned when they could not reach him by phone, went to his home and made entry and found his body.
Derrick Ray Thompson, already a person of interest in a double homicide in Santa Rosa County, was quickly identified as a suspect. Thompson’s vehicle had been left in Johnson’s driveway and Johnson’s vehicle, a silver Toyota Tundra, was missing. Law enforcement believed Thompson had taken it.
Subsequent investigation revealed that while in Johnson’s vehicle, Thompson used money obtained from Johnson and Johnson’s cell phone to purchase illegal narcotics in Bay County shortly after the homicide. Based on this information, a warrant was obtained for Derrick Ray Thompson for the murder of Allen Johnson.
Information on the suspect and the vehicle was distributed to local media and media in the Alabama area when it was suspected that Thompson might go there. Thompson has done electrical work on a hunting lodge in that area.
A citizen in Troy, Alabama, familiar with a description of the vehicle from media reports, spotted the Toyota Tundra entering the hunting lease late last night and reported it to local law enforcement. A team comprised of the US Marshals, the Troy Police Department, and the Pike County Sheriff’s Office formed a perimeter and, due to the fact Thompson was believed armed and dangerous and weather was bad, decided to wait for daybreak to move in on the suspect.
Thompson attempted to leave just before daybreak. When he got out of the Tundra to open the gate and leave the property, SWAT teams deployed a flash bang device and took the stunned Thompson into custody on the warrant from the Bay County Sheriff’s Office without further incident.
Law enforcement from Bay and Santa Rosa counties traveled to Pike County, Alabama and spoke with Thompson. After interviewing Thompson, investigators believe he committed the double murders in Santa Rosa County on Saturday, July 19, 2014. He fled Santa Rosa County and stayed that Saturday night with a friend on Panama City Beach. Sunday morning, Thompson went to Chipley and stayed overnight in a motel. After checking media reports online, he found out law enforcement had connected him to the double homicide in Santa Rosa County. On Monday, Thompson used a borrowed phone from the motel clerk and called Allen Johnson and asked if he could come to Johnson’s home on Wilson Avenue under the guise of borrowing money.
It is believed that Allen Johnson, an acquaintance of Thompson’s, was unaware that Thompson was a person of interest in the double homicide in Santa Rosa County.
Thompson was able to give law enforcement details about the murder of Allen Johnson not yet released to the public.
Allen Johnson was a deputy with the Bay County Sheriff’s Office from 1974 to 1988, working as a confidential informant prior to becoming a law enforcement officer. Johnson was the first to work undercover in drug enforcement for the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.
Derrick Ray Thompson was charged with an open count of murder in the death of Allen Johnson. He will be extradited to Bay County and face first appearance. After this the State Attorney’s Office for the first and fourteenth judicial circuits will work together to determine which homicide case will be tried first.
The Bay County Sheriff’s Office responded to 3506 Wilson Avenue this afternoon at approximately 1:43 after a 911 call reported finding the owner deceased inside the home.
The victim was identified as Allen Sidney Johnson, age 67. Family members of Johnson had gone to his home and forced entry when they could not make contact with him. They discovered his body and called 911. It appeared Johnson was shot.
It is believed at this time that Derrick Ray Thompson, age 41, and a person of interest in the recent double homicide in Santa Rosa County, may be connected to the death of Allen Sidney Johnson in Bay County.
Thompson’s vehicle was found at Johnson’s home when deputies arrived and Johnson’s vehicle was missing. Investigators are looking for Johnson’s silver, 4-door, 2010 Toyota Tundra, FSU tag number VY-015. The vehicle has a chrome brush guard. Thompson is described as a white male, 5’6”, about 225 pounds. Anyone with information on this vehicle or Thompson is asked to contact the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.
The BCSO Crime Scene Unit is at the home conducting a forensic analysis. The body will be turned over to the Medical Examiner for autopsy.
Allen Sydney Johnson