17-06-2025
Man fatally shot girlfriend while she FaceTimed her mom, Tennessee officials say
A 28-year-old man is going to prison after being convicted in the killings of two women, Tennessee prosecutors said.
Jair Romario Martin pleaded guilty to murder, aggravated kidnapping, criminal impersonation and evading arrest, the Knox County District Attorney's Office said in a June 16 news release.
He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, prosecutors said.
In May 2023, Martin was at a home in Knoxville with his girlfriend when he 'became aggressive,' according to the district attorney's office.
The girlfriend, later identified as 21-year-old Madison Johnson, called her mom on FaceTime to let her know she didn't feel safe, officials told WATE.
That's when the woman's mom saw Martin holding a gun, so she called 911 while still on the phone with her daughter, prosecutors said.
He refused to let Johnson leave and said, 'I'm going to murder you,' prosecutors said.
Johnson was fatally shot at the home in front of another woman, later identified as 20-year-old Heidi Johnson, then Martin shot the other woman dead, officials told WATE.
Madison Johnson was shot multiple times and had been stabbed in the head with a carving fork, prosecutors said.
Martin left the scene but was arrested days after, officials said.
Martin said he killed the women because they 'kept stealing drugs from him,' officials told WATE.
'I was wondering if there is something profound that I could say, but it's just sad. It's tragic. Two young women gunned down and killed in the prime of their life. They should have been able to experience their lives,' Judge Scott Green said during the hearing streamed by WBIR. 'It's just all so senseless.'
