A Chattanooga man pleaded guilty Tuesday to reckless homicide and received a three-year prison sentence months after jurors acquitted him of first-degree murder and hung on other charges.
Andre Johnson, 34, originally faced first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and three firearms-related charges following the March 2024 fatal shooting of Cedric Dickens, 56, off Vine Street.
Johnson will receive credit for 2 1/2 years already spent in custody, according to his defense attorney, Dan Ripper. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors dropped Johnson’s remaining charges.
The state agreed to the plea after considering jurors’ feedback from Johnson’s earlier March trial, according to prosecutor Paul Moyle. He said after the hearing that witnesses’ substance abuse, mental health histories and criminal records created significant issues in the state’s prosecution of the case.
Chattanooga man gets three years prison in plea deal after partial mistrial in fatal shooting case
“Unfortunately, in this particular case, everybody that witnessed Cedric being killed in his home have significant baggage,” he said.
One witness failed to appear on the second day of trial, Moyle said. After prosecutors obtained a material witness warrant, she was brought to court the following day and testified that she had used crack cocaine the day before she was originally scheduled to appear.
“Obviously, the use of drugs such as that, affect your recollection of events,” he said. “It also doesn’t really speak well to their credibility as a witness and a truth-teller.”
(READ MORE: Jury delivers split verdict, partial mistrial in Chattanooga murder case)
The criminal justice system is not perfect, Moyle said. According to him, certain crimes carry significantly greater punishments than others.
“But I have to act within the confines of the law,” he said, “and not what I believe to be a fair punishment.”
The prosecutor said he doesn’t know if there’s any punishment that can reduce the sting of the loss of a loved one.
During the hearing, Moyle delivered a victim impact statement on behalf of Dickens’ family. He said while the family understood the state’s challenges with prosecution, they agreed three years was not sufficient.
Moyle said that Dickens was cherished by his family and friends. His family hoped Johnson would use his opportunity to do better, learn a trade and become a pillar in his community.
Judge Boyd Patterson directly addressed Johnson after Moyle’s statement in court. He said the people who have the most reason to dislike Johnson want him to turn his life around.
“I hope you understand the gravity of that, how that’s not the case every particular trial or resolution that we do, but you have that,” Patterson said. “So, if you don’t turn your life around, it won’t be because you don’t have that support.”
Patterson said that, based on what the court saw at trial, the plea deal was understandable. He said he appreciated the two sides realizing the case problems weren’t going away.
One of Dickens’ aunts asked Patterson if she could address Johnson from the gallery, which the judge allowed. She said she would share words of encouragement.
The aunt told Johnson to go back to school, take up a trade and do something positive with his life. She said she’s dealing with the loss of her nephew every day, and she encouraged Johnson to find faith.
“I’m finding in my heart, God will forgive me,” she said, “so I can forgive you and be the stronger person.”
Johnson’s defense attorney, Ripper, said by phone he’s never seen a victim’s relative ask to offer encouragement from the courtroom gallery.
“I hope that he takes it to heart,” Ripper said, “and gets himself on the right track.”
A potential second-degree murder conviction at another trial could have carried 15 to 25 years in prison, Ripper said.
The jury from Johnson’s earlier trial was evenly split, Ripper said, which meant the state would have needed to persuade more than a single holdout.
“There was no one piece of evidence,” Ripper said. “It was the collection of everything that the state was going to have to rely on to get my client convicted, that was just wholly unreliable.”
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Contact courts reporter Mason Edwards at medwards@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6409.