Former Pro Bowl Running Back Chris Johnson Under Investigation For Alleged Involvement In Murder For Hire Case

Former Pro Bowl running back Chris Johnson is under investigation for allegedly hiring someone for a murder that left two people dead in 2016. TMZ reported that Johnson is accused of paying “a noted Florida gang member” to murder two men Johnson suspected were responsible for a shooting that resulted in his friend Dreekius Johnson’s death in March 2015. Dreekius was driving a Jeep before he was shot in the head while Johnson was in the passenger seat and suffered a shot to the right shoulder.

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“There’s no validity to any of these accusations,” Johnson’s representative told TMZ.

Court documents regarding the 2015 case involving Johnson and his friend said “intelligence gathered suggested [the shooting] was a gang related murder attempt on Chris Johnson.” The two men allegedly involved in the shooting were later found dead in 2016. Officials told TMZ that Johnson hired alleged gang-member Dominic Bolden for the crime that resulted in two murders, one in January 2016 and the other in July 2016. Officials believed this was retaliation against the men who shot at Johnson.

Officials reported that an informant on the case said Chris paid Bolden for the crimes and was going to help him become the head of a gang in Florida. The informant also said Johnson would supply Bolden, “with funds and an individual who could continually supply Dominic Bolden with as much narcotics as needed to supply the DTO [drug trafficking organization].”

The informant later mentioned that the “murder for hire elevated Dominic Bolden’s rank, reputation and power within the DTO.” Both the state attorney’s office and attorney general’s office in Florida have yet to comment on the case and Johnson hasn’t been formally charged.

Johnson made the Pro-Bowl for three straight years in his career (2008-10) and rushed for 9,561 yards in 10 seasons in the NFL.