Lexington man gets 35 years after pleading guilty to murder in 19-year-old’s death

A Lexington man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to murder for a teenager’s death in 2018.

Morgan Johnson, 25, was sentenced on Thursday afternoon by Judge Lucy VanMeter for amended charges he pleaded guilty to as part of a deal in July. Johnson pleaded guilty to murder, second-degree burglary and first-degree unlawful imprisonment.

Johnson’s conviction comes after he was accused of killing 19-year-old Christopher Spencer at an apartment off Richmond Road Feb. 7, 2018. Spencer was found on the porch of the residence with multiple gunshot wounds.

Johnson, who was 21 at the time, is also accused of kidnapping a woman he knew and taking her to the Squires Woods Way home, where he sexually assaulted her, according to court records. Johnson, Spencer and the woman knew one another, former Lexington Police Sgt. Jervis Middleton said, according to court documents.

He was sentenced to 25 years for murder, five years for burglary and five years for unlawful imprisonment. Each sentence will run consecutively. He was also ordered to have a 10 year protection order against one of the victims in the case, and a restitution of $6,080.

Johnson was originally charged with murder, kidnapping of an adult, first-degree burglary and first-degree rape. His rape charge was dismissed as part of his plea agreement.

At the time of the shooting, Johnson was arrested by police after several hours of negotiation. A week before the fatal shooting, on Jan. 31, 2018, police also negotiated with Johnson to come out of the same residence after they responded to a call of a suicidal man.

Johnson was taken to Eastern State Mental Hospital after he was coaxed out of the apartment. The institution does not release information on specific patients or cases, so it is unclear if Johnson was admitted and when he was released after police took him to the psychiatric facility Jan. 31.

Throughout the course of the investigation and court proceedings, it was questioned if he was competent to stand trial with an evaluation done by the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center in July 2018. He was ruled competent by VanMeter in September of the same year.

Victim’s father: ‘What is just punishment?’

Several impact statements were given to the judge on behalf of Spencer’s family and Spencer’s father appeared via Zoom to give a verbal statement. He said nothing could express the anger, pain, hurt and emptiness that Johnson created for his family.

“We are here for sentencing, but what is just punishment? Is there a punishment for the pain you have created? We all agreed to settle so to speak for what everyone thinks is fair and just,” the father said of the plea agreement. “But that falls short in my eyes and in my heart.

“Our family decided as a whole, this was going to be as good as it was going to be for us,” he said.

Johnson’s defense attorney said Johnson’s responsibility was absolute, but at the time he was in a mental health crisis, and was not who he appeared to be on the court papers.

“Mr. Johnson really is a good person who did a terrible thing,” his attorney, Bonnie Potter said. “There is no excuse but those letters from his family are real, he is a very sweet son, and he is more than what you see on paper.”

VanMeter said his series actions were “horrific and intentional that went on for a long period of time.”

“(Johnson) had a lot of opportunities to leave before inflicting harm on others and it just escalated,” she said. “ ... Except for him pleading guilty in this case, the statement he gave does not appear to take responsibility for what occurred here. It seeks to minimize what he did, which as I said, was just horrific.”