Albemarle police still search for clues in unsolved killing

One in an occasional series on unsolved homicides in the Charlottesville area.

Almost four years have passed since Anthony Lorenzo Johnson’s body was found face-down next to a Buick Regal in a gravel parking area of Darden Towe Park.

And the killer has not been arrested.

Homicides and child abuse cases are the worst, said Albemarle police Detective Jim Hope, the lead on the Johnson case.

“You take it personally,” he said last week. If you don’t close the case, “you feel like you’ve failed” the victim’s family, who at the very least should get closure with an arrest.

When a case drags on unsolved like the Johnson case has, it’s even tougher.

It’s enough to jar Hope awake in the middle of the night.

“I’ve had nights where I wake up and think, OK, I gotta do this, gotta do that,” the veteran detective said.

Hope has been on the case since the beginning, when a woman walking her dog on the morning of Feb. 21, 2005, found the 22-year-old Johnson’s body. He had been shot in the head.

Police said at the time that blood was found inside the 1981 Buick, owned by Johnson’s mother. They had not determined where, when or why Johnson was killed, nor had they found the weapon.

Last week, police declined to discuss specifics on this case, for fear of jeopardizing the investigation.

“We have worked it and worked it and worked it,” said Lt. Greg Jenkins, head of the Albemarle police investigations division.

Along with physical evidence forensic technicians have gathered in the case, detectives have interviewed at least 250 people, Jenkins said.

“We’ve identified and interviewed a number of possible suspects,” he added.

Detective Hope said this is the longest-lasting homicide case he’s worked in his nearly 20 years as a cop.

He said one blessing has been Johnson’s family, who has been understanding, especially the mother.

“She has been very patient and understanding,” said Hope, who promised her that he would catch her son’s killer.

That is a risky thing for a detective to do, but Hope likes his chances.

“I feel very confident that we will be able to eventually solve her son’s homicide.”

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Crimestoppers at 977-4000 or the police department at 296-5807 and ask for Detective Hope.