Inset, from left: Madison Johnson (Atchley Funeral Home) and Heidi Johnson (Mynatt Funeral Home). Background: Jair Martin during his sentencing hearing for killing the two women (WBIR).
A Tennessee man will spend the rest of his life in prison for shooting his girlfriend to death and then stabbing her in the head with a carving fork before killing her friend who witnessed the murder.
Jair Romario Martin, 28, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, and one count each of criminal impersonation and evading arrest, the Knox County District Attorney”s Office said in a press release. Martin killed his girlfriend, 21-year-old Madison Johnson, and her friend, 20-year-old Heidi Johnson, who also lived at the home. Knox County criminal court Judge Scott Green sentenced him on Monday to life behind bars without the possibility of parole.
On the morning of May 13, 2023, Madison Johnson was on FaceTime with her mother and said Martin was being aggressive and refusing to let her leave by barricading the door. The mother called 911 after seeing that Martin had a gun.
Martin was heard saying on the call, “Madison, don’t leave like that,” and “you are going to get murdered.” Madison Johnson reportedly told Martin to stop pointing the gun at her, and he responded by saying, “I’m going to murder you,” and fired several shots at his girlfriend. Heidi Johnson yelled “Oh my God,” and then Martin turned the gun on her, according to a courtroom report from local NBC affiliate WBIR. Martin fired about 10 shots in the ordeal before leaving the home.
A police officer spotted Martin walking down the street, but because officers had not yet identified him as the suspect and he appeared “very calm,” she let him go. Cops arrested him a few days later.
When officers entered the home, they found the victims dead from gunshot wounds. Madison Johnson also had a carving fork protruding from her head, police said.
During the sentencing hearing, prosecutors played an 11-minute surveillance video from inside the home that captured audio of an argument followed by gunshots and the chaos of the aftermath. Several of the victim’s family members wept, covered their ears or left the courtroom as it played, WBIR reported.
A detective testified that Martin claimed the victims had stolen drugs from him and he blacked out during the shooting.
Heidi Johnson’s mother told the court she was disappointed in Martin because he was a family friend before the murders.
“Heidi was my ‘ride or die,’ and used to tell me she would be there in the passenger seat until I died, and now she’ll never ride with me again,” she said, per WBIR. “I believe that God will hold the murderer accountable, but here on Earth, you have the decision on the punishment. I believe there is only one answer to that. Madison’s family and my family have received a life sentence: a life sentence of grief, wondering what would have happened to her.”
Madison Johnson’s mother said the murders could have been avoided if Martin had simply let them leave.
“Madison asked him to let her leave. He wouldn’t. He barricaded them in. All they wanted was to leave and go home,” she said. “He showed them no mercy that day, and I ask you show him none.”
The judge agreed.
“You didn’t just kill Madison. It was heinous, atrocious, crude. Your anger and rage that we heard manifested what you did to her body, driving a double-prong fork into her body that penetrated her skull,” Judge Green said. “After you killed her, you turned on her best friend, put multiple bullets into her body and killed her as well.”
