Denver Johnson, right, faces a murder charge in the fatal shooting of Jason Paholic Jr., left. (Paholic photo from his obituary; mug shot from Lake County Sheriff's Department)
The mother of a teen in Indiana allegedly shot by his best friend in an alcohol-fueled Memorial Day weekend "prank" said she doesn't think the accused shooter should be charged with murder, saying it was an accident.
Denver Johnson, 18, faces a murder charge in the fatal shooting of 16-year-old Jason Paholic Jr. after being initially charged with reckless homicide, involuntary manslaughter, pointing a firearm and criminal recklessness.
"Him and Jason were best friends, and it's not fair, it just does not sit well with me at all," the victim's mother, Jennifer Paholic, told Brian Entin of News Nation. "It's already tragic. It's already horrible. I just feel like this is making it so much worse, and there are so many people that are hurting because of this."
The Lake County Prosecutor's Office declined to comment.
A probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime outlines the case when an officer was dispatched on May 28 to a backyard fire pit in the 12000 block of Burr Street in Crown Point on a call of an assault with a firearm.
When an officer arrived, Johnson yelled for help — "He's in the back! I shot him!" the document said.
The officer went into the back and found Paholik lying on his back near a fire pit. The officer tried to do CPR before medical personnel arrived, but Paholik died at a hospital.
Johnson allegedly told the officer he and Paholik were drinking alcohol around the fire pit when he pulled out his gun and pulled a prank on his friend. Johnson then said he pulled out his handgun, pointed it directly at Paholik's chest at point-blank range, and pulled the trigger, the affidavit said.
Johnson said he thought the gun was empty and didn't think it would fire, the affidavit said.
Jennifer Paholik was home sleeping at the time of the shooting. She said her other son woke her, saying Johnson shot her son.
She said she couldn't believe it, as Johnson and Paholik "have been best friends forever."
Johnson's mother, Amanda Eby, was also at the hospital.
She told an investigator her son and Paholik were best friends and "he would not have shot him on purpose," the affidavit said.
A witness told police a group was sitting around a campfire listening to music. Johnson was "using and handling his gun as if it was a toy," according to the affidavit.
"He advised that Denver Johnson pointed his gun into the air and toward the woods several times," the document said.
The witness said he knew it wasn't a good idea to consume beers and point a gun. He said he heard a shot while talking to someone and saw the victim on the ground with a hole in his chest. The witness said Johnson and Paholik were close friends and had not been arguing before the shooting.
Police said they obtained video and audio of the incident from a camera at the address that appeared to capture the shooting. In the video, an unknown female appears to goad someone, stating, "You won't, p—-."
"Immediately thereafter, a noticeably distinct noise can be heard that appears to be the male suspected to be Denver Johnson cocking the firearm," the affidavit said. "Immediately thereafter, you can then see the male suspected to be Denver Johnson raising and pointing the firearm for a moment in the direction of Jason Paholik. During this time, Jason Paholik appears to walk out of view of the camera for a moment, before walking back toward Denver Johnson in a seemingly casual manner."
One person appears to be saying repeatedly, "Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop."
"The male suspected to be Denver Johnson then appears to briefly lower the firearm before raising it again and shooting Jason Paholik, whereupon Jason Paholik falls down as if he was shot," the affidavit said.
In the document, the investigator says that the act of pointing a handgun directly at someone and then pulling the trigger "without exhaustive regard as to whether the handgun was loaded or had a round in the chamber and while consuming alcoholic beverages is a reckless act, one which led to the death of Jason Paholik."
Johnson's mother told NewsNation she's watched the doorbell video showing the tragedy.
"It does show, you know, the boys hanging out, their group of friends, all having fun, partying around a bonfire, being reckless teenagers as all boys or teenagers can be," she told the station. "There's a lot of a fair, extensive amount of alcohol consumed and marijuana, kids just being kids. And they were shooting the gun at the back of the property line. All of the children were."
She said they were using the gun — a Glock that Johnson got from his boss for his 18th birthday — as a toy, dancing with it, taking pictures, and waving it in the air. She said a part of the video shows Johnson trying to "make the gun safe several times."
"But the very last time that Denver was given the gun back after it had been shot, he accidentally made the gun safe in the incorrect order," she said.
She said that with that gun, you must remove the clip before clearing the chamber.
"He mistakenly cleared the chamber and then removed the clip," she said. "So he thought the gun was safe, and they continued to play around with it and wave it. And, you know, Jason was even dancing in front of it at one point, and they were pretending like, you know, there he was getting shot. And then just that last time there was, you know when he actually pulled it that time, there was actually something in there."
Jennifer Paholic said she is angry, but Johnson did not murder her son.
"He didn't even voluntarily manslaughter my son," she told NewsNation.
She said Johnson called her from jail apologizing.
"He has told me how sorry he is, how much he loves me, how much he misses us. He wishes he could go back," she said.
Johnson's trial is set for Nov. 13, online court records show.
