A grand jury has indicted a Canton man accused of shooting and killing his pregnant girlfriend and her uncle, according to the Cherokee County District Attorney’s Office.
Kristopher Martin Johnson was indicted last week on 11 counts, including malice murder, felony murder, feticide and aggravated assault, court records show. He was being held Monday in the Cherokee jail.
On March 23, Johnson called 911 and confessed that he had killed his girlfriend and her uncle, according to the sheriff’s office. Then, Johnson told the operator he was in a grocery store parking lot.
After Johnson called 911 around 8 p.m., Canton officers and Cherokee deputies went to the Old Donaldson Road home where he said he shot the two people and also to the Ingles, the sheriff’s office said.
At the home, deputies found the bodies of Carla Marie Payne, 30, and Thomas Richard Donaldson, 65, both of Canton. At the Ingles, Johnson was arrested.
An autopsy determined Payne was pregnant when she was killed, the sheriff’s office previously said. According to her online baby registry, Payne was due to deliver this month.
Credit: Family photo
Credit: Family photo
Credit: Family photo
Memorial services for Payne and Donaldson were held on back-to-back days in April. Payne is survived by three brothers and a sister, while Donaldson is survived by two sisters and a brother, according to their online obituaries.
Johnson is scheduled for arraignment July 14, court records show.
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