$150M civil judgment issued against 2 Arkansas school shooters

JONESBORO -- A Craighead County circuit judge awarded the families of the five 1998 Westside School District shooting victims $150 million Monday, but the attorney representing them said he doubts they will ever see any money.

Circuit Judge John Fogleman entered the judgment during a brief hearing in Jonesboro against Andrew Golden, who now goes by the name Drew Grant, and Mitchell Johnson. Neither attended Monday's hearing, said Jonesboro attorney Bobby McDaniel, who represented the victims' families in a civil lawsuit against the two.

McDaniel said he filed the suit so that a judge would release sealed depositions taken from Golden and Johnson years ago after they staged the ambush at Westside Middle School.

"The truth is, we don't expect to see any money, but both have judgments hanging over them," McDaniel said. "If they win the lottery or write a book, they can't profit."

Fogleman awarded each victim's family $10 million in damages against Golden and $20 million against Johnson.

Johnson is incarcerated in a federal penitentiary on theft and drug possession charges and has no attorney.

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Golden's attorneys, Joe Perry of Marianna and Danny Glover of Wynne, knew of Monday's hearing but signed a consent judgment form on behalf of Golden earlier this year to avoid a trial. Golden is living in Missouri, Glover said.

Johnson and Golden were convicted of fatally shooting four students and a teacher March 28, 1998, after Golden tripped a fire alarm in the middle school and then ran to a brushy area where he and Johnson waited for people to evacuate the building.

As students and staff left the building, the two fired numerous times, killing students Paige Herring, 12; Brittney Varner, 11; Stephanie Johnson, 12; and Natalie Brooks, 11; and teacher Shannon Wright, 32.

Ten other students also were injured in the gunfire.

Craighead County sheriff's deputies apprehended Johnson and Golden as they tried to drive off in a vehicle Johnson took from his home.

The two were adjudicated for capital murder Aug. 11, 1998, but because both were minors -- Johnson was 13 and Golden was 11 at the time of the shooting -- Arkansas law at the time required that they each be released when they turned 21.

Former Craighead County Prosecuting Attorney Brent Davis said at the time that he would have sought the death penalty for both had the law allowed them to be charged as adults.

McDaniel said Monday that he wanted to release the sealed depositions taken from the two so school officials, psychologists and others could determine if there were any warning signs that foreshadowed the shooting.

"Hopefully, people can read them and see what kind of trouble may have set these kids off," McDaniel said.

He said testimony by families Monday was "painful" and may have provided some sense of closure 19 years after the shooting.

"These people have been through hell," McDaniel said. "This may be some closure to the extent that they got whatever civil justice that could be provided.

"I wanted to hold [Johnson and Golden] accountable."

Glover said the form he and Perry signed in the spring consented to the $10 million settlement.

"I don't think this means much," Glover said of the larger settlement rendered by Fogleman. "[Golden] has no means to pay it.

"It's odd that the case sat for so many years before today."

Golden is now 31. Glover said he didn't know the details of Golden's life in Missouri.

"I don't want to know," Glover said. "He prefers to remain anonymous."

Getting a judgment was never about money, according to Pam Herring, the mother of Paige Herring.

"We had to honor our loved ones and tell the court how much it hurt to have them taken from us, even all these years later," Herring said in a news release announcing the judgment. "We also hope something can be learned from their depositions which may help prevent a similar incident in the future."

State Desk on 08/15/2017

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