Pair Accused In Slaying Of 31-Year-Old Mom At ATM Ordered Detained

WORTH, IL — The suspects accused of gunning down a 31-year-old single mom Saturday in a botched robbery at an ATM drive-thru in Worth had spray-painted their orange-red Lexus a different color the next day before they were both apprehended in Posen.

Tamara Johnson, 22, of Griffith, Indiana, and her friend, 23-year-old Jason Johnson, appeared Wednesday before Cook County Judge Linzie Jones on a first-degree murder charge. The two have left a trail of arrest warrants following a month-long crime spree across the south suburbs and northwest Indiana, prosecutors said. The two aren't married, and it is unclear if they are related.

Just after 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Jonnie Angel Klein, 31, went to use the drive-thru ATM at Chase Bank, 6838 W. 111th St. in Worth. The prosecutor said the bank’s surveillance video captured an orange-red Lexus pulling into an interior lane.

Surveillance footage showed an individual, identified as Tamara Johnson, exit the front passenger side of the Lexus wearing all black with a zipped-up hooded jacket and a black mask, the prosecutor said. She approached Klein’s gray Honda Civic on the driver’s side. A struggle ensued for several seconds evidenced by the Civic shaking, before it sped off. Tamara returned to the Lexus, with a handgun visible in her right hand, and the dark mask visible, according to the charges.

At one point during the struggle, the prosecutor said Jason Johnson, who was staying with family in Harvey, was seen exiting the Lexus, with his face captured on camera, the prosecutor said. Jason Johnson was also clad in an all black zipped-up hoodie with a logo over his chest and was wearing reddish colored gloves.

The gravely injured Klein was able to get on 111th Street before the car slowed down and stopped. A witness saw the stopped car and pulled over to check on the driver, finding Klein unresponsive. The witness called 911 and Worth police responded within 78 seconds.

Klein was rushed to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where she was pronounced dead. Worth police found a .45 caliber spent shell casing inside Klein’s car, as well as a Chase receipt and cash. The Cook County Medical Examiner determined the cause of death to be single gunshot wound to the chest, and ruled it a homicide.

Worth police and the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force sent images of the suspects’ Lexus to area police departments. The next day, around 2:15 p.m., Posen police spotted the Lexus, now painted blue, and stopped the vehicle, and officers said Tamara and Jason Johnson were the only people in the car. Posen officers observed orange-red paint underneath new blue spray paint on the Lexus, and underneath that, white paint.

Tamara Johnson and Jason Johnson were both taken into custody. Their cell phones were also recovered, the prosecutor said.

Inside the Lexus, the prosecutor said officers recovered a black face mask similar to the one worn by Tamara Johnson that was found inside a purse. Officers also found a black hoodie that appeared to match the one worn by Tamara on the bank surveillance video, the prosecutor said. The reddish gloves and a windbreaker with a logo in the same area were also recovered from inside the Lexus, which the prosecutor said matched the clothing Jason Johnson was seen wearing in the surveillance video.

In addition, police said they found a box of .45 caliber ammunition, and a .45 caliber semi-
automatic firearm that had a 13-round capacity but only 12 rounds of ammunition in the chamber.

The prosecutor said a cell phone found in the Lexus was apparently taken Oct. 24 in an armed robbery in Hammond, Ind. Officials said both Johnsons were captured on Walmart surveillance video with their faces visible before the robbery in a white Lexus. The Lexus followed the shopper from the Walmart SuperCenter in Hammond to her home in Griffith. As the woman exited her car, a masked Tamara Johnson pointed a gun at the woman and took her cell phone, the prosecutor said. Lake County, Ind., issued warrants for their arrests for armed robbery.

A 60-round capacity rifle and multiple boxes of unopened Newport cigarettes now believed to be taken in an armed robbery at Family Express Gas Station on Oct. 29 in Wheatfield, Ind., were recovered from Jason Johnson’s Lexus. In the Family Express robbery, the prosecutor said a woman and two men were involved. The woman carried a Glock semi-automatic and one of the men wearing red gloves carried a rifle, the prosecutor said. A white Lexus was also used in the robbery. Warrants for armed robbery were issued for Jason and Tamara’s arrest.

The prosecutor said that the .45 caliber gun that was found in the Lexus was test-fired and matched the .45-caliber casing found on the floorboard of Klein’s vehicle.

Pictures of the alleged .45 caliber murder weapon were also found on Tamara Johnson's phone, with the serial number clearly visible. There was also a second picture with Tamara’s face in it posing with the same weapon used in Klein’s fatal shooting because of its unique threaded barrel, the prosecutor said.

From 2:20 p.m. to 3:49 p.m. the day of Klein's slaying, the prosecutor said Tamara Johnson's phone had been turned off. Eighteen minutes prior to Klein’s shooting, the prosecutor said a red-orange Lexus was captured on video during an attempted armed robbery at Swap-O-Rama in Alsip. A masked individual got out of the passenger side of a red-orange Lexus, and pointed a gun at a man. The man ran away without giving up his belongings.

After leaving Swap-O-Rama, the vehicle was seen on multiple cameras heading west down 111th Street in the direction of Chase Bank in Worth.

Following their arrest Sunday, the prosecutor said Tamara admitted to being with Jason Johnson the day of the fatal shooting, and that "she is always with Jason." Prior to the phone geo-locator being turned off, data placed her as various locations in Chicago. Officials said she also told police that she had been at Jason’s brother’s house in the city. An hour after the geo-locator was turned back on, the prosecutor said Tamara Johnson was placed at a Home Depot in Homewood, where Jason’s family food truck is parked, and later at the address where Jason’s father lives.

Detectives claimed to have found blue spray paint on the ground in the alley behind his father’s house. A can of gloss white spray paint and painters tape with blue paint were also said to be found in a garbage can, and red-orange drops were on the garbage can’s interior. Jason Johnson had blue paint on his jeans when he was arrested, the prosecutor said.

Klein’s family members packed one side of the courtroom. When Tamara Johnson entered the courtroom, her aunt called her name. Tamara Johnson turned around and said, “I love you.” Her aunt responded, “love you more.”

The prosecutor told the judge that based upon the proof of evidence from the Chase shooting and other robberies, the robbery victim’s property found in the Lexus, and the fact that they crossed state lines to commit their alleged crimes, both posed a threat to the community.

Tamara Johnson’s attorney argued that the assistant state’s attorney failed to meet their burden, and that the evidence was circumstantial.

“The person [in the bank surveillance video] was wearing a mask. She was with Jason the next day,” her attorney said. “They haven’t been charged with any crimes.”

Jason and Tamara’s attorneys both asked to be released on electronic home monitoring with no movement. An aunt offered to let Tamara live with her in Chicago while on monitoring.

“With no movement [Tamara], can’t be a threat to the community,” her attorney argued.

Judge Jones called the evidence “clear and convincing that these defendants committed the crimes” they’ve been accused of. The fact that both painted the car after the shooting also demonstrated a consciousness of guilt, according to Jones. He ordered both to be detained and executed their Indiana no-bail arrest warrants.

Jason and Tamara Johnson are due back in court on the Chase case Nov. 28 in Bridgeview.