Utah
Utah police arrest man on parole for aggravated murder after manhunt
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PROVO — Police late Wednesday arrested a man who served a prison sentence for aggravated murder, in connection with a new crime in Provo that was allegedly committed after he was paroled.
On Wednesday, the Provo Police Department announced that Solomon Lee Johnson, 42, is a suspect in an aggravated burglary that occurred at a residence on July 19. Johnson brandished a gun and threatened a woman during the incident on July 19, according to police.
About 10 p.m., a team of officers from multiple agencies “apprehended (Johnson) in Orem” and took him into custody “without incident,” Provo police said in a news release.
Police had asked for anyone who might know Johnson’s whereabouts to call the department, and warned that he should be considered “armed and dangerous.” Earlier Wednesday, police arrested Johnson’s girlfriend, Chante Lynn King, 38, of Provo, for investigation of obstruction of justice.
“The victim reported a man had entered her house with a gun and threatened to kill her. The suspect was identified as Solomon Johnson. Solomon was reportedly upset with the victim for interacting with Solomon’s girlfriend, Chante King,” according to a police booking affidavit.
Johnson pointed a gun at the victim, the affidavit states. When King tried to intervene, Johnson pushed her out of the house, then went back to first woman and “threw her to the ground, put a pillow to her head and pressed the gun to the pillow, pointing it at her head,” the affidavit states. “The victim stated Solomon’s girlfriend then broke the window to the house and stated police were coming.”
Johnson then drove away from the scene.
The woman told police that Johnson “has had or has access to three firearms via Chante,” according to the affidavit.
When police located King and questioned her, she denied having communication with Johnson and said she did not know where he went, “but knew he was not coming back. Chante would not say how she knew that,” the affidavit states.
The next day, July 20, King was pulled over by the Utah Highway Patrol in the vehicle that Johnson had fled in, according to police. They also learned that King had been in contact with Johnson’s family.
Johnson was originally charged with capital murder in 1999 when he was 18 after bursting into a West Valley apartment and shooting 16-year-old Wilber Canales three times at close range, killing him, and injuring an 18-year-old man in a gang-related shooting. With the charge, Johnson became the youngest person in Salt Lake County in 40 years to face a possible death sentence.
In 2000, after being convicted of aggravated murder, he was sentenced to life in the Utah State Prison with the possibility of parole. He was granted parole by the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole in August of 2021. The board issued a warrant for his arrest on Thursday, a day after the alleged crime in Provo.