Tuesday authorities apprehended an active United States Marine on base in Yuma, Arizona as the prime suspect in a New Year’s Eve road rage attack. Eric Jamal Johnson was arrested yesterday on a warrant served by the U.S. Marshals Service for the murder of University of North Texas junior Sara Mutschlecher.
The alleged altercation arose in the early morning following the traditional New Year’s Eve festivities. Mutschlechner was driving her friends home from a party in Denton, Texas that Johnson had allegedly attended. At a stop light an unidentified SUV pulled up along side Mutschlechner’s vehicle and reportedly began making vulgar and derogatory comments toward them. It is then said that a back and forth occurred between Mutschlechner’s vehicle and the unidentified vehicle which ultimately led to someone discharging a firearm from the SUV and killing Mutschlechner. Mutschelechner was hit in the head and lost control of the wheel crashing the car into a telephone poll according to Denton police.
Social media and some witness accounts were the main tools used in the identifying and tracking down of Johnson as the suspect for this murder. It was said that pictures from Instagram and Twitter were able to help authorities partially identify the SUV. They have stated that the car they believe to be that of the shooter’s is of the same make and model as Johnson’s. According to party goers, at least two of the people who have been reported to have been in the car with Johnson were seen earlier that night at the party. No one ever outright claimed that they believed Johnson was the killer but it is reported that Johnson was seen earlier that night with a firearm in his SUV. Police have questioned others who were allegedly in Johnson’s SUV who were described as “persons of interest” but never outright suspects.
Johnson is being held in Arizona and will have to be extradited to Texas before he can see a judge. There has yet to be any concrete evidence linking Johnson to this shooting nor have their been any eye witness accounts resulting in anyone being directly accused. America will just have to wait and see how the first case of its kind in the new year unfolds.
