SARASOTA, FLORIDA — Johnny Evans, a 23-year-old Sarasota resident, admitted guilt to a murder charge on the morning his Stand Your Ground trial was due to start.
Authorities stated that Evans committed the crime just past midnight on January 6, 2022, outside Moore’s Grocery on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way. He allegedly shot a man twice before escaping in his father’s 1997 Toyota Camry. Later the same day, Evans rented a vehicle and fled to Mississippi, where he evaded capture for two months.
With help from the U.S. Marshals Service, he was apprehended on February 5, 2022. He attended a Stand Your Ground hearing on July 14, 2023, which led to a scheduled jury trial on July 24.
Instead of starting the trial, Evans confessed to the murder that day in court.
