RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- A grieving father is desperately searching for answers after his son was murdered in Richmond in May.
Scott Johnson II, affectionately known as Scottie, was in the "wrong place at the wrong time" when he was gunned down on Williamsburg Road. It's been nearly three months since the crime and the Johnson family has no answers or arrests.
Grief is weighing heavy on Scott Johnson, Scottie's father, who's felt helpless for the past few months waiting on the investigation to play out. Each day Johnson hopes for a crack in his son's murder case, often returning to the scene of the crime - an apartment complex on the 2200 block of Williamsburg Road.
"I come by here occasionally seeking closure or comfort, but I never quite get it," Johnson explained. "Being here tears my heart out. This is the last place that my son drew breath, this is the place that my son was murdered."
On May 15, 26-year-old Scottie was visiting a friend, stepped out on the porch and gunfire rang out. The new father and former Highland Springs football standout was shot multiple times and died on the doorstep.
8News visited the crime scene with Johnson on Tuesday and the apartment door was still pierced with nine bullet holes. Johnson got emotional as he stared at the large holes in the door and said it's been a slow process.
"I'm tasking the public if you know something, say something, I'm tasking RPD to do more and I'm also tasking the city's leadership to get involved," Johnson said.
He adds that since his son's murder he has not heard from any city leadership and if he hasn't that means others have not either, which is disappointing.
"It was very disheartening that no leadership from the city of Richmond reached out to me or my family in our time of need," Johnson expressed. "I know there's a proliferation of gun violence, but that's why you were elected into that position to do more to get involved. What policies are you putting in place to curb the systemic gun violence."
Johnson went straight to the source and put out the call to City Council members and Stephanie Lynch answered.
Councilwoman Lynch is passionate about ending the violence and healing trauma. She met Johnson Tuesday morning and the two walked the crime scene candidly discussing the city's surge of gun violence and what city leaders are doing.
"It's going to take all the community coming together and program funding," Lynch explained. "It's going to take multi-pronged approaches. The issues are bigger than one person or one council. We all have to work together. We are in a war against trauma and poverty."
Lynch said Mayor Levar Stoney's gun violence task force just made its recommendations, which includes money for intervention and mentoring programs. Lynch shared that one of the programs will be named after Sharnez Hill and her three-month-old baby who were shot and killed at the Belt Atlantic apartments just three weeks before Scottie's murder.
Richmond police did not respond to 8News' request for updates on Scottie's case, but if you have any information give police a call.
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