The Murder of Phillip Johnson

Phillip “Keylow” Johnson Jr. was a father, brother, fiancé, and well-known Rockford community member. On January 28, 2012, he was riding as a backseat passenger in a coupe leaving San José on East State Street after Rockford Police were reportedly called to the area for a “large fight and a shot fired.”

Rockford Police officer John Johnson stopped the vehicle near the 300 block of Longwood Street, and officer Amado Soria arrived as backup. Initial police reports stated officers ordered the occupants to show their hands and exit the vehicle. Community witnesses later said the driver and front passenger complied and exited first. According to witnesses, Phillip then reached down to move the seat forward so he could get out of the backseat.

Witnesses alleged it was at that moment that officer Amado Soria fired twice through the windshield, striking Phillip Johnson in the chest. Community members at the scene watched as officers pulled Phillip from the car, placed him on the snowy ground, and handcuffed him while he was bleeding.

Witnesses also alleged police delayed calling for medical assistance and that when paramedics arrived, officers prevented them from treating Phillip until they said they had “control over the crowd.”

The shooting was investigated and ruled justified by the Winnebago County Integrity Task Force. It became the third case reviewed and justified by the task force, which has since ruled every deadly force case it investigated justified. It was the first Rockford police shooting of 2012 and the fourth police deadly force incident in Winnebago County during the 2010s.

May Phillip “Keylow” Johnson Jr. rest in power.