Man pulled into Walmart and was dying 2 minutes later after random confrontation with ex-cop carrying his purchase out — now the shooter heads to prison

A former officer with the Kansas City Police Department (KCPD) will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars for shooting and killing a septuagenarian man in a Walmart parking lot.

In June, Taquiza Johnson, 49, was found guilty by a jury in Platte County, Missouri, on one count of second-degree murder and armed criminal action for the 2024 death of 71-year-old Ronald Barnett.

The jury that returned the verdict also suggested a life sentence.

This week, 6th Judicial Circuit Judge Myles Perry agreed with the jury — and then some — by sentencing the defendant to life in prison for the murder conviction and an additional 15 years for the armed criminal action conviction. The second sentence will run consecutively, or after the first sentence. In the Show-Me State, a life sentence is a 30-year term before parole eligibility kicks in.

"It is almost incomprehensible that a brazen shooting like this could even happen in a busy Walmart parking lot during the middle of the day," Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said in a press release after sentencing. "By recommending the life sentence for murder, the twelve jurors in this case made an emphatic statement that crimes like this will be met with strict justice in Platte County."

The underlying incident occurred on Aug. 21, 2024, in the parking lot of the Walmart near the Shops at Boardwalk shopping mall located on North Boardwalk Avenue in Kansas City.

Surveillance camera footage showed the defendant leaving the big-box store and going through the crosswalk where Barnett was driving before Johnson extended his arm toward the vehicle, according to court documents obtained by Kansas City-based Fox affiliate WDAF.

In the footage, Barnett then reverses, stops, and gets out of his vehicle. Then, Johnson is seen walking over to the victim. The footage then shows the two men interacting for roughly 20 seconds before both men return to their respective vehicles.

After that, Barnett is seen parking in an accessible space, getting out of his vehicle and walking toward the entrance. Meanwhile, the footage shows Johnson driving toward the victim, getting out of his vehicle, walking toward Barnett, then shooting the man once before fleeing the scene.

During their second encounter, the defendant approached the victim "with a gun hidden behind his back," prosecutors said.

"There was another brief verbal confrontation in the driving lane between the two, and Johnson shot Barnett one time in the center of the abdomen," the press release explains.

The entire incident occurred in less than two minutes, according to the charging documents. After the shooting, Johnson got back in his car and drove away. Barnett was treated by paramedics and then rushed to North Kansas City Hospital, where he died a short while later.

Within 10 minutes, Missouri Highway Patrol troopers found Johnson's vehicle at a nearby apartment complex and arrested him after he changed clothes.

At the time of the shooting, the defendant was not a member of law enforcement. He had worked for the KCPD between 2004 and 2014.

"During trial, Johnson asserted that he was only defending himself because of the earlier threats made to his life by the victim," the press release goes on.

But that self-defense argument failed.

On cross-examination, Johnson admitted Barnett was not armed and that he did not see a weapon of any kind.

"The instruction on self-defense in Missouri is clear," Zahnd said in an earlier press release. "Verbal threats are not enough. Name-calling is not enough. A person claiming self-defense must establish that the perceived aggressor possessed, exhibited, or threatened to use a weapon readily capable of lethal force. Deadly force is not justified in response to fear of being grabbed or even punched. The old axiom is true — you cannot bring a gun to a fist-fight."