Drug suspicions, on both sides, led to uncle’s slaying at backyard barbecue in Dallas

Drug suspicions, on both sides, led to uncle’s slaying at backyard barbecue in Dallas Matt Peterson

Corey Franklin

Staff writer Eline de Bruijn reports:

Corey Franklin said things changed between him and his uncle when he accused the older man of stealing from the family’s matriarch.

Franklin, 38, took the stand Wednesday in his murder trial for the slaying of Jerry Johnson, 62, at a family barbecue last spring.

The two men both lived, off and on, at the Oak Cliff home of Franklin’s grandmother, but they managed to keep their distance — until they came face-to-face at the May 17 barbecue.

Neither side disputes Franklin shot Johnson twice in the backyard at the home on Huckleberry Circle in east Oak Cliff.

But the defense says Franklin was protecting himself from his uncle and twice told him to back up before opening fire. Johnson was unarmed.

Franklin said his intention was not to kill his uncle but that their feud intensified when Franklin accused Johnson of stealing his grandmother’s money to fuel his heroin addiction.

“I shouldn’t have said that,” Franklin said.

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