- George Johnson, 28, was found dead Friday night on his cell room floor at the Jessup Correctional Institution in Maryland by an officer making rounds
- The cause of death was determined by the medical examiner’s office to be asphyxiation by hanging
- Baltimore Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn sentenced Johnson to 123 years the day before he was found dead, on Dec. 14
- He was convicted in October of false imprisonment and reckless endangerment for leading police last year on a chase, then holding four people hostage
George Johnson, 28, was found dead Friday night on his cell room floor by an officer making rounds; He was sentenced to 123 years the day before he was found dead by hanging, on Dec. 14, for the crime of for holding four people hostage at a Baltimore Burger King in July 2016
A man has hanged himself in his Maryland prison cell after being sentenced to 123 years for holding hostages at a Burger King during a standoff with police.
George Johnson, 28, was convicted in October of false imprisonment and reckless endangerment for leading police last year on a chase, then holding four people hostage inside a Baltimore Burger King.
Johnson was found Friday night on his cell room floor, unresponsive, by an officer making rounds, a prison spokesperson said.
The cause of death was determined by the medical examiner’s office to be asphyxiation by hanging, the Baltimore Sun reported.
Baltimore Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn sentenced Johnson to 123 years on Dec. 14. the day before he was found dead.
Johnson was convicted in October of false imprisonment and reckless endangerment for holding four people hostage inside a Baltimore Burger King in July 2016
He was acquitted of the most serious charges he faced, which included first- and second-degree assault and use of a firearm in a violent crime.
Johnson had a semi-automatic handgun during the standoff that lasted more than five hours in 2016.
Johnson admitted to fleeing from police because he had a gun in his car, when an officer tried to pull him over while driving a gold GMC Yukon that had been suspected of being associated with a rape that occurred the day before.
Johnson crashed the vehicle, fled on foot, and ended up in the Burger King near North Monroe and Washington Boulevard.
That’s where Johnson forced three employees and a 7-year-old girl into the manager’s office, in a standoff that lasted nearly five-and-a-half hours.
First, two employees were released, then Johnson made one employee throw his loaded gun out the window before surrendering and releasing the final employee and the girl.
Johnson was found dead at the Jessup Correctional Institution in Jessup, Maryland.