Deandre Joshua Was Murdered over Grand Jury Testimony – Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
Grand jury witness DeAndre Joshua was murdered in Ferguson, Missouri, because former Officer Darren Wilson was not indicted in the shooting death of Michael Brown.
The Truth:
The motive for Deandre Joshua’s murder isn’t known, but it’s clear that Joshua wasn’t a grand jury witness.
The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office told the Washington Post that, “He was not a witness.” Joshua’s family and friends backed that claim up, too.
Joshua, 20, was found murdered the morning after violent protests erupted in Ferguson on November 24, 2014. Joshua had been shot in the head, and his body was partially burned, USA Today reports.
Reports that Joshua’s murder was linked to grand jury testimony swept the web after it was revealed that he was a friend of Dorian Johnson, the man who was with Brown on the night of his death. Joshua was also murdered in a car parked near the same apartment complex where Brown died, which fueled further speculation, Politico reports.
However, Joshua’s former girlfriend told the New York Times she was with him at a beauty salon when he learned Brown had died. Joshua’s family also said he was nowhere near Brown the night he died and that Joshua would have had nothing to testify about.
Also, even if Joshua had testified, nobody would have known. The grand jury witness list is sealed and records are heavily redacted, the Boston Globe reports. Wilson and Dr. Michael Baden, who performed Brown’s autopsy, are the only known witnesses who testified.
But the time, location and manner of Joshua’s murder will continue to fuel speculation that his death was related to the grand jury’s decision — whether Joshua testified or not. Police haven’t ruled that possibility out, either.
St. Louis County Police Chief John Belmar said there could be “a nexus” between the unrest in Ferguson and Joshua’s murder. But police said it’s unclear if there’s a direct link or not.
Future updates to this story will be posted here.