Valley Man Who Shot Wife Gets 94 Months

A Spokane Valley man who admitted shooting his wife five times last year over an impending divorce was sentenced Monday to more than seven years in prison.

Prosecutors initially charged 48-year-old Charles A. Johnson with attempted murder for the June 9 shooting.

But because the victim didn’t want to go through a trial, prosecutors allowed Johnson to plead guilty to attempted first-degree assault.

The 94-month prison term imposed by Superior Court Judge Robert Austin is the high end of the sentencing range for the crime.

Johnson asked for a reduced sentence, claiming he suffered from extreme stress and sleep deprivation at the time of the attack and didn’t realize what he was doing.

Kathy Johnson, 42, filed for divorce a month before the shooting. She told police her husband of 22 years became angry when she visited his East Valleyway house while he was holding a garage sale.

As she drove away, he got into a pickup truck, followed her for several blocks, then rammed her car.

When she pulled over, he got out of the truck, walked up to the driver’s window of her car and fired five times. Kathy Johnson was hit several times in the chest.

, DataTimes