Ryan Tolliver Johnson of Lexington has been indicted on three charges that, if convicted, could bring him 60 years in prison. Since the 19 year-old has no previous record (that we know of) and the Alabama court system likes to play Let's Make a Deal, we can be reasonably sure his final sentence won't be so daunting.
Yet the indictment leaves many questions. Let's look at them:
1. Whose UTV was Johnson driving? A Polaris UTV is expensive, and since it can't be driven on public roadways, it's a true luxury unless one is a farmer, forester, etc. Perhaps Ryan has money? Or perhaps his family didn't know that he sometimes "borrowed" farm equipment?
2. Why didn't the indictment include underage drinking and on-road driving? We'll give the troopers a pass for not charging him with the on-road driving since that was hearsay, but if he tested drunk, shouldn't he have been charged?
3. Where did Ryan get the alcohol? Someone either sold it to him or he borrowed that from family as he may have the UTV. Did he supply it to his friends? After all, we now know the UTV was not a Polaris model equipped for a driver and three passengers, but was suited to only one passenger. Why did Ryan's four friends agree to such a risky ride if they weren't similarly impaired?
If there's no trial, we may never know the answer to these questions. What we do know is that, barring some genius on Ryan's part, he's just demoted his station in life...as in forever. It's sad, but it's also sad for the Newton family who has to live the rest of their lives without Jackson because Ryan Tolliver Johnson made the choice to kill his friend.
Yes, he made that choice whether he was aware of it or not. We doubt that teenage boys are in our reading demographic, but let's hope at least one reads this and makes a conscious decision not to let this happen to him.
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What's going to be the local race to watch this fall? It could possibly be the Colbert County Circuit Court clerk race. Qualifying doesn't end for ten more days, so we may see even more interest before then.
