Two SU students linked to shooting

Two Southern University students were identified in the November 8 shooting of a Marine recruiter at a Plank Road Chevron Service Station.
According to Dean of Student Life Robert Bennett, Jordan Lee Hughes, 21 and Jonathan P. Smith, 22, was arrested Saturday, November 15 in Mobile Ala.
According to The Advocate, Smith and Hughes are accused of confronting Master Sgt. Kenneth Johnson, 37, and his brother in the parking lot of the service station at 2:50 a.m.
During the argument, Hughes allegedly shot Johnson once in the chest. Johnson died 30 minutes later at a hospital, an arrest warrant says.
Police seized empty plastic cases for two .40-caliber handguns at the address, the warrant says. Police reported finding spent .40-caliber shell casings at the scene of the killing.
Police also seized an AK-47 assault rifle, a revolver, 147 grams of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, the warrant says.
Bennett said both students will be suspended until a disciplinary hearing is held to determine whether they should be expelled.
They pulled into the Chevron parking lot as Smith and Hughes were backing out in a Dodge Stratus, police said. Smith and Hughes thought Johnson cut them off, police said.
They confronted the brothers as the two were getting out of their car, the warrant says.
A Chevron employee told police she saw no physical contact between the four men arguing in the parking lot.
Then, “without warning,” the passenger from the Stratus pulled a pistol and fired one shot at the victim, who fell to the ground, the warrant says.
The warrant says Smith tried to pull Hughes back to the Stratus, but Hughes shot a second time at Johnson before driving away.
Smith told his mother they were acting in self-defense, the warrant says.
He said, “We had to do it. That man was going to hurt us,” according to the warrant.
Smith’s girlfriend told his mother that he went to his cousin’s house in Alabama, the warrant says. Mobile, Ala. police arrested Smith and Hughes Saturday morning. The two told police they had been in town since Nov. 8.
Hughes, the alleged triggerman, will be booked with second-degree murder, said police spokeswoman Cpl. Mary Ann Godawa.
Smith, the driver of the Stratus, faces accessory after the fact to second-degree murder, she said.