Mississippi Man Pleads Guilty To 2016 Murder, Other Crimes

Feb. 1, 2022 – A Mississippi man has pled guilty to a series of unrelated violent crimes, including striking a fellow prisoner with a brick, setting fire to the jail on two occasions, and killing an acquaintance in 2016 by stabbing him more than two dozen times, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

    Drew Johnson, 30, of Southaven, pled guilty in Criminal Court to first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and two counts of aggravated arson. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility for parole for the murder, and to 15 years in prison for each of the other offenses, all to run concurrently.

    An investigation showed that on April 23, 2016, Calvin Holloway Jr., 25, of Southaven was reported missing and that a friend saw on his Facebook page that he planned to meet with Johnson in an area of southwest Memphis.

   Four days later, authorities discovered Holloway’s body in a field in the 5100 block of Crossfield Road near Weaver Road and West Holmes Road in the Westhaven area of southwest Memphis.

   He had been stabbed more than two dozen times.

   In another case, Johnson pled guilty to attempted first-degree murder related to an attack on Dec. 21, 2021, in with he repeatedly struck another prisoner in the head in the Shelby County Jail.  

  Johnson also pled guilty to setting fires in the jail on May 14, 2019, and again 10 days later.

     Johnson also has a pending murder case in Rankin County, Miss.

    The cases were handled by Asst. Dist. Attys. Leslie Byrd, Alanda Dwyer and Gavin Smith.