Eyewitness News Memphis
Reported by: Tenikka Smith
February 12, 2008
[Excerpts] The murder trial for a woman accused in the 2006 murder of a Memphis Police Officer began Tuesday morning, February 12, 2008. Former Shelby County deputy jailer Monique Johnson is accused of killing Officer Tony Hayes in September 2006, then putting his body in the trunk of his car. Investigators found the body at Lynnfield Place Apartments in East Memphis, after Hayes had been missing for about a week. Investigators say Johnson and Hayes had been in a relationship, but Hayes ended it and filed a restraining order against Johnson shortly before he was killed. Defense attorneys say Johnson was the victim of an abusive relationship and shot Hayes in self-defense during an altercation. Prosecutors say Hayes was the victim of Johnson's uncontrollable jealously and anger and described the killing as an "execution"...
===============================
ReplyDelete===============================
===============================
OLDER NEWS
===============================
===============================
===============================
Deputy jailer has violent history
WREG, TN
Posted by Stephanie Scurlock
09/10/2006
MEMPHIS,TN-There are new details about the violent past of a Shelby County deputy jailer accused of murdering a Memphis police officer.
Officer Tony Hayes was shot and killed Monday. His body was found stuffed in the trunk of his car. His girlfriend, Shelby County deputy jailer Monique Johnson is charged with 1st degree murder. Her 16 year old son, Donald Wallace is charged as an accessory after the fact. News Channel 3's Stephanie Scurlock uncovered police records that reveal the deputy jailer had a history of romantic relationships filled with violence.
It's a stack of documents showing the rage and anger that led up to deputy jailer Monique Johnson's arrest for the murder of Memphis police officer Tony Hayes.
Just 4 months ago, he called police to his Cordova home after Johnson vandalized his furniture, clothes and cars. She cut power cords to his televisions, carved an obsenity on his bed's leather headboard and cut up every single piece of his clothing. She filled his dress shoes with baby oil. Sliced his mattress and then headed to the garage where she scratched his convertible Corvette and his Mercedes Benz. On the roof of the Mercedes she carved another obsenity. Officer Hayes told police she was mad he'd gotten a phone call from another woman. The next time police would be called to that house, they were looking for his body.
The deputy jailer's other relationships have also been rocky. Another alleged victim, Johnson's ex-boyfriend, Kendall Young. Records show he filed a restraining against her.
One of the most violent incidents involving Monique Johnson happened at the Walgreens on Mendenhall and Winchester. That's when she was accused of trying to run over Kendall Young. Witnesses say they saw him hanging onto the hood of the car as she was speeding off.
Later that same day, the boyfriend got a call from an unknown individual stating, "If you keep messing with my family, you keep messing with Monique and I know where your mother lives in California. " The threats didn't stop there. Two days later the boyfriend got a bullet delivered to his mailbox.
But despite the complaints against her and eye witness accounts, Johnson was never charged in any of those incidents. It wasn't until Officer Tony Hayes was killed that this Sheriff's office employee found herself on the other side of a jail cell.
===============================
===============================
===============================
Accused cop killer's ex-boyfriend talks
WREG, TN - 1 hour ago
Memphis-- It was volatile, violent and verbally abusive. A relationship so bad that Kendall Young says he's not surprised court records show his ex-girlfriend, Monique Johnson, confessing to killing a cop.
"I turn on the television and my ex-girlfriend is on television for murdering a police officer. I knew she was crazy, but not that crazy," explains Young.
These days Young feels like he's living an episode of a show that could be called surreal life.
When Young left his role as Johnson's boyfriend in 2005, he says he had no doubt the accused killer was capable of committing the crime she's charged with.
"I'm more than certain she did it. In fact, she pulled a gun on me more than one once."
A stack of police reports appears to be a testament to some of Johnson's past behavior. They show a volatile relationship between Young and the Shelby County deputy jailer who's ten year's older.
Both Young and Johnson filed reports against each other claiming verbal and physical abuse. Often times the reports were two different versions of the same event. Young says the final straw for him came in March 2005 when Johnson tried to run him over with a car in the parking lot of the Fox Meadows Walgreens.
"She pushed me out of the car, backed up an hit me and tried to hit me again," remembers Young.
Young says he immediately went to file a restraining order against Johnson. Turns out she filed one against him that same day. A bad episode in his life he's thankful he lived to tell about.
"The fact that she pulled a gun and shot a police officer lets me know she could have done worse to me."
===============================
===============================
===============================
Murdered officer's former partner talks with NewsChannel 3
Wake for Memphis Police Officer Tony Hayes
WREG, TN
Posted by Tom Powell
9/12/2006
MEMPHIS - The wake for Memphis Police Officer Tony Hayes was held at M.J. Edwards Funeral Home Tuesday night. All kinds of folks arrived to celebrate the fallen officer's life, from fellow-officers to the Shelby County Sheriff.
Officer Hayes was found shot to death in the trunk of his Lexus, which was abandoned at an East Memphis Apartment Complex last week. His ex-girlfriend Monique Johnson is charged with first degree murder. Johnson's 16 year old son Donald Wallace is accused of helping her hide the body.
Officer Hayes is remembered as a hard working police officer, who was not only aggressive, but also very compassionate. His partner on the force for more than three years, Officer Brandon Champagne, says Hayes always had his back. "He would take care of business, and still have a compassionate side," says Officer Champagne.
Champagne says it's impossible not to build a strong bond with someone you spend so much time with. Add to that, the fact you're facing danger everyday, and you're relationship becomes stronger than a brotherhood. "He always had my back. He was always there. I knew he was there. I mean, there was no doubt," says Champagne.
Funeral Services are planned for Officer Hayes at Grace Baptist Church on Manassas Street at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday
===============================
===============================
===============================
Sheriff Unaware of Jailer's Violent Past
Eyewitness News Memphis
Posted: 9/20/2006
Monique Johnson called Memphis police on at least two former boyfriends claiming they assaulted her, but it was boyfriend number three, Officer Tony Hayes, who called the cops on Johnson after she vandalized his Cordova home.
According to the police incident report, on May 19, 2006, Johnson entered Hayes' house and cut every piece of clothing he owned, including his business suits and shirts.
She poured a baby oil substance into his dress shoes before moving on to the furniture.
Johnson cut the chords to all the televisions and carved an obscenity into Hayes' leather headboard.
Then she headed for his garage where she cut deep scratches in every panel of both his cars, a Corvette convertible and a Mercedes.
Officer Hayes called the police to report it and told investigators Johnson was mad because another woman had called him on the phone.
A stack of documents uncovered by Eyewitness News shows Johnson had a history of jealousy, rage and anger.
She was arrested in March of 2005 after she tried to run over an ex-boyfriend in a Walgreen's parking lot.
The police report says she was upset their relationship had ended. The same boyfriend later found a bullet in his mailbox.
"You know, the whole thing is a tragedy," says Steve Shular, spokesperson for the Shelby County Sheriff's Department.
Shular says no one in the department had a clue that one of their deputy jailers had such serious personal problems.
"When we don't know a situation exists," says Shular, "we really can't be held responsible for it. In other words, we did not know this matter existed."
Shular says the Sheriff's Department didn't know because the Memphis Police Department never informed the agency about Johnson's arrest or the vandalism incident at Hayes' home.
MPD spokesperson Sgt. Vince Higgins tells Eyewitness News, "Once someone is charged, we do report it to the appropriate people. But Johnson was never charged."
The deputy jailer was never charged because her victims chose not to pursue legal action. If they had, Johnson might not be facing first degree murder charges in the shooting death of Officer Tony Hayes during a domestic dispute earlier this month.
"Had we known, we could have talked to her," says Shular. "Not only could we have talked to her about the allegations that were being made in the case, it might have led to other help we might have provided her through our employee assistance program."
Instead, the Sheriff's Department found out about Johnson's violent past the day she was arrested for murder.
A Memphis Police Department employee hand-delivered a file to the Sheriff's Department's Internal Affairs Bureau. Included in the file were copies of Johnson's earlier run-ins with the law.
Monique Johnson's next court appearance is Tuesday, September 26th. Her 16-year-old son is also charged as an accomplice in Hayes' murder.
===============================
===============================
===============================