A Florida man who fatally shot his girlfriend and her young son during what began as an argument over the television remote has lost his final bid for mercy. Nearly seven years after the horrific double homicide, the Florida Supreme Court has upheld the conviction and death sentence of Tyrone Terell Johnson.
Johnson, now 46, was sentenced to death in December 2022 for the brutal murders of his girlfriend, Stephanie Willis, 34, and her 10-year-old son Ricky “Ryon” Willis at their Tampa apartment on October 21, 2018.
According to court records and investigators, the violence erupted over a seemingly mundane disagreement — what to watch on television. Prosecutors say Johnson became enraged after changing the channel to a football game, sparking an argument that turned deadly inside their home at the Mariners Cove apartment complex.
When deputies arrived that evening, they found Johnson outside on the porch, crying and covered in blood. Inside, the scene was chilling.
Stephanie and Ricky were found lying side by side in a pool of blood in the master bedroom. Both had been shot multiple times. Forensic evidence told a harrowing story — one that prosecutors said made it clear this was not self-defense, as Johnson had initially claimed.
Investigators found shell casings that matched Johnson’s Glock handgun, blood spatter across the apartment, and, most disturbingly, evidence that Ricky had tried to hide under his bed before he was shot. Blood beneath the child’s bed and bullet holes in the wall aligned with shell casings near his mattress.
During his emotional police interrogation, Johnson told detectives that he had been pushed off his medical scooter by Stephanie and feared for his life. He said he grabbed his gun when she allegedly raised a PlayStation console to strike him. When Ricky entered the room, Johnson claimed, the boy jumped on him, prompting a panic-driven shooting.
But detectives didn’t believe him — and neither did the jury.
Prosecutors argued that after killing Stephanie, Johnson “hunted down a 10-year-old child” who was terrified and hiding. “That’s what premeditation is,” Assistant State Attorney Teresa Hall told the court.
Autopsy findings revealed Ricky had been shot six times, including in the temple, jaw, and limbs. Some of his injuries were consistent with defensive wounds. The medical examiner testified that even after the first five shots, the child could still move.
In video shown to the jury, “I’m feeling a little numb,” Johnson says in the video as detectives guide him through breathing exercises in an effort to calm him down.
“Just breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth,”
one officer is heard saying.
“We’re good, man. I appreciate it. Deep breaths.”
Through tears and broken sentences, Johnson told detectives he had changed the TV to football — an act that he said sparked a heated argument with Stephanie. The fight, he claimed, turned personal when she brought up the suicide of his own son.
“She said, ‘That’s why my son killed himself like a little [expletive] because you’re a [expletive],’”
Johnson told investigators, visibly shaking as he recalled the moment.
He claimed he called his father for help and began packing to leave when Stephanie allegedly knocked him off his medical scooter. Then, according to Johnson, he opened fire.
“I was just… Did it hit her? I think so. I don’t know,” Johnson said. “She fell. I just kept firing.”
Johnson said Ricky ran into the room during the chaos and asked, “You hurt my mommy?” — a moment he described as heartbreaking. But prosecutors say Johnson’s version doesn’t match the forensic evidence.
Assistant State Attorney John Terry told the jury that Ricky did not run into the master bedroom. Instead, the frightened 10-year-old hid under his bed — and Johnson followed.
“We have shell casings. We have blood. We have holes in the wall in the little boy’s room,”
Terry said, laying out what he called “indisputable” proof that the child was hunted down and executed.
Prosecutors argue that Johnson acted with deliberation and cruelty, firing repeatedly and showing no regard for the victims’ lives. They say he deserves the death penalty.
Johnson’s defense attorney painted a different picture — of a man overwhelmed by grief and trauma, who snapped in a moment of emotional collapse. She argued the killings were not premeditated but a spontaneous outburst by someone suffering from mental anguish. The appropriate charge, she said, is manslaughter, not murder.
Johnson pleaded for leniency during sentencing, stating,
“I am truly remorseful and deeply sorry to all who have been hurt by this.” But his apology did not sway the court.
Family members gave powerful victim impact statements during sentencing. Ricky’s aunt, Denise, told the court,
“The feeling of grief we feel is never-ending, every minute of every day.”
His grandmother added,
“We will never see him grow up, never see who he would have become.”
The court weighed multiple aggravating factors in support of the death penalty: Ricky’s young age, the cruelty of the murder, and Johnson’s prior conviction for Stephanie’s killing. Although the defense introduced mitigating factors such as Johnson’s mental illness, military service, and the trauma of his son’s suicide, the judge determined the aggravating elements far outweighed them.
On July 11, 2024, the Florida Supreme Court unanimously upheld Johnson’s conviction and sentence. Justices rejected all seven issues raised on appeal, including concerns over the admissibility of his police interview, claims that prosecutors pressured his brother not to testify, and objections to how the court weighed Johnson’s criminal history.
The justices acknowledged one minor sentencing error but concluded it had no impact on the outcome, given the overwhelming evidence and jury consensus.
Johnson remains on Florida’s death row. For the victims’ family, the legal resolution offers little comfort.
“It’s still not closure for me,” said Stephanie’s father, Robert Hewitt. “Nothing’s going to bring Ricky and Stephanie back.”
The family has said they want to be present if and when Johnson is executed. “I just want him to feel that terror,” Hewitt told reporters.
The case serves as a haunting reminder of how a moment of domestic tension can erupt into irreversible violence — leaving behind not just two lives lost, but an entire family forever changed.
