HOT SPRINGS -- A convicted felon arrested last week on violation of a no-contact order after the shooting of his wife was charged Tuesday with felony counts of domestic battery and having a firearm.
Nelson Green Johnson, 37, who has remained in custody since his arrest Sept. 11 in lieu of $105,000 bond, was formally charged Tuesday with first-degree domestic battery and possession of a firearm by certain persons, each punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Johnson appeared via video in Garland County District Court on Sept. 12 and pleaded innocent to violating a no-contact order charge. His bond was increased to $355,000 following Tuesday's formal charges.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Hot Springs police responded about 7:30 a.m. Sept. 11 to a shooting on Carpenter Dam Road at Lakepark Drive. They found a 37-year-old woman on the roadside who had a large abrasion to her right forearm and a small wound to the right side of her neck.
The woman told officer Cash Murray she had been shot by her husband, identified as Johnson, the affidavit said. She said she had just left her place of employment when Johnson "crawled out of the trunk and into the passenger area" of her 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix and shot her in the neck.
She said she struggled with Johnson and then exited the vehicle and Johnson shot her twice more, in the left shoulder and right breast, the affidavit said. He then pulled her into the passenger side of the vehicle and, with the passenger door still open, turned left onto Carpenter Dam from Lakepark Drive, causing her to be ejected from the car onto the roadway, the affidavit said.
A .22-caliber revolver was found in the roadway near where the victim was ejected, the affidavit said. The woman was airlifted from the scene to UAMS for treatment.
Johnson contacted police and told them he had wrecked the Grand Prix and advised them of his location. At 7:45 a.m., Sgt. Richard Harkness located Johnson walking on Casey Street and took him into custody without incident. A few minutes later, the Grand Prix was located about 50 yards off the roadway in the 600 block of Grand Point Drive.
A criminal history check revealed Johnson was previously convicted on a felony count of fraudulent use of a credit card Sept. 25, 2009, and commercial burglary in 2001, both in Phillips County.
Johnson was arrested March 1 on a felony charge of second-degree domestic battery involving his wife after he was accused of driving over her legs and left hand with his car during a confrontation Feb. 26.
Johnson had remained in custody on zero bond and pleaded innocent to the charge May 1. He was released on $5,000 bond July 6 and a court order barring him from contact with the victim was issued.
State Desk on 09/21/2018