Kevin Johnston gets 8 years in prison

A Sharpsburg teen admitted in court Thursday morning that he was holding a gun when it “accidentally went off” at a party, killing 18-year-old Dallas Crenshaw of Peachtree City June 20.

Kevin Johnston also apologized to Crenshaw’s parents and said he would “trade places with Dallas” if he could.

Johnston pled guilty Thursday to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to eight years in prison by Chief Superior Court Judge Paschal A. English. That will be followed by two years of intensive probation.

Peachtree City Police Capt. Michael Claman told the court that a witness had seen Johnston waving the gun around moments before the shot was fired from the weapon. Johnston testified that he had consumed between 15 and 20 beers that evening and also smoked some marijuana.

Johnston, who by all witness accounts had been close friends with Crenshaw, wept openly when Crenshaw’s mother spoke about the hole in her heart that her only son’s death has caused.

Testimony revealed that Johnston bought the gun from someone in Peachtree City. Johnston’s older brother said he bought the weapon for protection from a person who previously had tried to rob him.

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