Terry Johnson (defendant) and Demarion Smith (victim)

SAN ANTONIO, TX - A Bexar County judge has sentenced Terry Johnson to 30 years in prison for the murder of 18-year-old Demarion Leal Smith.

Last week, Judge Benjamin Robertson of the 226th District Court handed down the sentence following Johnson’s conviction in Smith’s death.

The shooting happened in April 2024, when San Antonio police responded to reports of shots fired at a Dollar Tree store on East Houston Street. Officers found Smith lying in the parking lot with gunshot wounds to his back and chest. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators determined the shooting followed a disturbance outside the store. Several months later, Johnson admitted during an interview with authorities that he fired the shots, claiming he acted in self-defense. Prosecutors said that claim was contradicted by video evidence collected during the investigation.

Assistant Criminal District Attorneys Raul Jordan and Cassandra Rosales of the Criminal Trial Division led the prosecution, with support from Victim Advocate Brandy Jimenez and Investigator George Felan.

“We are grateful that justice has been served in this case,” Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said in a statement. “We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to Demarion’s family and hope this verdict can bring some measure of closure.”