CLEARWATER — A longstanding feud between two men led to murder and a manhunt for the accused killer that ended when police arrested him Monday.
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La’Mel Johnson, 29, faces a first-degree murder charge after investigators said he shot Michael Rackard, 34, Jan. 28 in an apartment at 124 N Jefferson Ave., according to Clearwater police. Rackard was taken to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg, where he died days later.
According to Johnson’s arrest warrant, Johnson and Rackard, whose aunt is dating Johnson’s father, did not get along. On the day of the shooting, the two were fighting at the apartment of Rackard’s aunt, Sheila Sims.
It was unclear what started the fight, the warrant said, but it escalated to the point that they knocked over a television and Johnson yelled for someone to get his gun. Sims, sleeping in the bedroom with Johnson’s father, was awoken by the noise and told them to stop fighting.
Johnson disappeared from the bedroom. His father went to pick up the TV.
Then, a gunshot rang through the apartment. Sims watched as her nephew fell on the bed, blood gushing from his right thigh, according to the warrant.
"La’Mel just shot me!" she heard Rackard yell. She called 911. Johnson fled.
At the hospital, Rackard underwent emergency surgery that required his leg to be amputated, according to the warrant. He died Thursday.
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