Canton — One year after a Canton father was murdered on a quiet sidewalk in front of his own daughter, the killer is finally going to trial on charges of premeditated first-degree murder, claiming self-defense, and to no one’s surprise, playing the race card.
As reported by Michigan Enjoyer last year, Nathan Morris, husband and father of two young children, was walking with his daughter in his subdivision, only a short distance from his own home, when he was gunned down by his neighbor, Devereaux Johnson, allegedly over a Morris’s daughter picking up a piece of mulch on Johnson’s property.
Morris’ tragic and senseless murder inadvertently revealed remarkable incompetence on the part of the state’s criminal justice system given that Johnson, now age 48, had received light sentencing for multiple past criminal violations and early expungement of his probation for physical assaults on police, court officers, and city employees.
Even more startling was his possible involvement in criminal activity in neighboring states and his convictions for sex offenses in Illinois and Nevada.
It would appear that Devereaux Johnson has successfully played the race card defense in several states and jurisdictions, so naturally it was his nearest weapon to hand now that he’s on the hook for murder.
During a recent preliminary hearing last week—after a year of motions and determinations as to Johnson’s mental fitness to stand trial—Johnson spoke for the time.
Claiming Morris threatened him with bodily harm, Johnson said “Well, after he threatened to kill me, his exact words were, ‘will kill you n*****’ and that’s when I feared for my life.”
Yet newly revealed video evidence captured by a camera on a neighboring home—suspiciously hidden from the general public for a year, and begging the question as to how quickly it would have leaked had the immutable traits of the Morris and Johnson been reversed—tells a different story. Footage depicts an armed Johnson approaching Morris, who backs away with his hands up—and Johnson coldly shooting him.
Judge Michael Gerou wasn’t buying Johnson’s cry-bully routine, and after testimony from Sgt. Joseph Keimig revealing Morris was unarmed and carrying only a phone, Johnson was bound over for trial for murder, and firearms possession.
All this takes a backseat to the immeasurable loss of Nathan Morris, whose absence leaves a heartbreaking void in the lives of family, friends, and his community.
Morris was an exceptionally civic minded resident of Canton, deeply involved in the school district and active with the Plymouth Canton Republican Party. A former candidate for the Plymouth Canton Board of Education, his friends described him as a “devoted family man, an education reform advocate, and a leader.”
Michigan Enjoyer spoke with Patty Pozios, president of the Plymouth Canton Republican Club and Morris’s campaign manager when he ran for the board:
“I’m still grieving his loss, and feel terrible for his family and friends. I miss Nathan and his presence in our lives”
Pozios organized the memorial for Nathan Morris on August 10, however the event was invite-only with the location kept undisclosed to respect the privacy of those mourning his loss.
According to Pozios, Morris’ murder was unsurmountable for his wife and family, who’ve permanently left the area—completely understandable given the stomach-churning circumstances.
A father would be alive today if not for teeth-grinding failures of local and state government via notions of judicial-reform activism and the pernicious Progressive Prosecutors Project seemingly tentacled into every major city and adjacent suburb.
Morris’s murder went virtually ignored for several days by the local mainstream news. When finally covered, Johnson’s past criminal records, hostile relationship with his neighbors, repeated racist behavior and assaults on local police were omitted.
In fact, Johnson’s race-card defense ploy at his most recent court date last week was covered by only local TV station. And of course there was complete silence from local and state politicians who can’t tweet fast enough when gun violence is perpetrated by a white male.
It’s very likely they don’t even know his name—in fact I know they don’t. A few weeks after Morris’s murder I mentioned his name to a prominent elected Democrat from the suburbs. “Who?” they replied.
Devereaux Johnson currently remains in jail without bond awaiting further arraignment on additional firearms charges, and a beginning trial date has yet to be scheduled.
Friends and family of Nathan Morris gathered on Sunday to laugh, to cry, and to remember a good man.
Jay Murray is a writer for Michigan Enjoyer and has been a Metro Detroit-based professional investigator for 22 years. Follow him on X @Stainless31.
