A Montgomery County, MD man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for the murder of a Morgantown, WV resident last summer. According to the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office, now-20-year-old Arnold Johnson III, of Montgomery Village, was convicted and sentenced in the shooting death of 21-year-old Rashad Malik Alton of Morgantown.
Deputies responded to Mountain Valley Drive on July 11, 2024, at about 1:42 a.m. and found Alton suffering from a gunshot wound. He was transported to Ruby Memorial Hospital, where he later died of his injuries. Investigators described the case as an isolated incident between acquaintances and identified the then-19-year-old Johnson as the shooter.
Following the shooting, Johnson fled the area and was considered armed and dangerous. Nearly a month later, on August 7, 2024, he turned himself in to the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office without incident. He was arraigned the following day on a first-degree murder charge.
Johnson was sentenced this week to 40 years in prison. The case drew significant attention in both West Virginia and here in Maryland, where Johnson resided.
