Man Found Shot to Death; Acquaintance Held

By Bill Brubaker (Contact)

Originally published at 8:22 a.m., May 1, 2008
Updated at 9:46 p.m., May 1, 2008

RELATED STORY: Family Mourns Man Killed on Rural Trail

A 21-year-old man with a robbery conviction and a warrant for his arrest was shot to death late Wednesday night in a quiet, wooded area of southwestern Loudoun County, authorities said yesterday.

The body of Jajuan D. Johnson was found off a trail near the village of St. Louis, northwest of Middleburg, after the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office received an anonymous 911 call shortly before midnight.

Within hours, deputies arrested Terence E. Dade, 23, and charged him with first-degree murder and using a firearm while committing a felony.

Dade, of Middleburg, was an acquaintance of Johnson’s, and they once lived in the area of Snake Hill Road in St. Louis, near the scene of the slaying, sheriff’s spokesman Kraig Troxell said.

A motive has not been determined, Sheriff Steve O. Simpson said Thursday night. “From talking to different people that know the parties involved, there are different stories and different theories about what could have prompted this,” he said.

Dade was being held without bond at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center.

Additional arrests in the case “cannot be ruled out,” Simpson said.

Homicides are rare Loudoun. This is the second slaying in the county this year. On Jan. 16, a 20-year-old painter killed a neighbor with one bullet to the head in Leesburg, authorities said. The shooter apparently was jealous of the man’s relationship with a woman they had both dated, officials said.

Dade pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor property destruction charge in January, according to Loudoun court records.

Johnson pleaded guilty in April 2005 to a felony robbery charge and was sentenced to three years in prison. All but three months of the sentence were suspended.

In February 2006, Johnson pleaded guilty to a probation violation. He was given a 24-month sentence, with 15 months suspended.

Later, he was charged again with a probation violation.

“We had a warrant out for his arrest,” Simpson said. “And we had been looking for him.”

Johnson’s body was found about 12:30 a.m. yesterday after the 911 caller reported seeing an injured man.

“The caller said someone was injured along St. Louis Road near the VDOT facility,” Troxell said. “It took a while to get information from this person on exactly where this victim was. This person wasn’t being exactly forward. But we canvassed the area and found the victim.”

The slaying shocked residents of St. Louis, an unincorporated village settled by freed slaves in the late 19th century.

Longtime resident Albert L. Bland, 77, who is known as the village’s unofficial mayor, said neighbors were awakened about 2 a.m. by the sound of a low-flying helicopter.

“There’s very little crime in this village,” he said. “We have a very quiet community, and most of us are senior citizens.”

Bland said he did know the victim or the man arrested. “I never even heard their names,” he said.

News researchers Robert E. Thomason and Rena Kirsch contributed to this story.

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