Man Gets 53 Years For Killing Scout Holiday Incident Began When Teens Went Out For Hamburgers, Shakes

A California man was sentenced Friday to more than 50 years in prison for killing a 16-year-old Eagle Scout visiting the city for a December holiday banquet.

Richard L. Johnson Jr. was sentenced to 53 years and three months in prison, the maximum under state guidelines, by King County Superior Court Judge Nicole MacInnes. She sentenced Johnson to 34 years and three months for the slaying and other crimes and added 19 years because a firearm was used.

The victim - Trevor Aurand of Indianola, a town of about 1,500 on the Kitsap Peninsula west of Seattle - was in a car with other teens when he was shot.

At his sentencing, Johnson of Compton, Calif., told Aurand’s parents he did not shoot their son.

Johnson was convicted last month of second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and first-degree assault for firing on the car in which the teens were riding Dec. 28.

He was also convicted of three counts of second-degree assault in an unrelated incident, accused of threatening guests at a Seattle motel with a gun.

Aurand, a sophomore at North Kitsap High School, was spending the night in Seattle with several other scouts. They were here for a Dec. 27 dinner sponsored by a Boy Scout camp where they’d worked the previous summer.

Early on Dec. 28, five Scouts went out for hamburgers and milkshakes at a nearby convenience store. As they drove back to the north Seattle apartment where they were staying, one of the teens rolled down his window and yelled a derogatory name at Johnson as he crossed the street in front of them.

Prosecutors say Johnson got into his car, began tailgating the teens and then opened fire on their car. Aurand was shot in the head.

In California, Johnson had been convicted twice of drug-related felonies, authorities said.