Click to copy

Ex-Texas A&M football player found guilty of murder

April 30, 2019 GMT

1 of 2

This file photo provided by the Dallas County Sheriff's Office shows Thomas Johnson. The former Texas A&M football player is being tried for the killing of a jogger police say was hacked to death with a machete in 2015. Johnson's murder trial began Monday, April 29, 2019, after years of litigation over whether the 25-year old former wide receiver is mentally competent to be tried for the killing of David Stevens. (Dallas County Sheriff's Office via AP)

1 of 2

DALLAS (AP) — A former Texas A&M football player accused of hacking a Dallas jogger to death with a machete in 2015 has been convicted of murder.

A Dallas County jury swiftly returned a guilty verdict Tuesday in Thomas Johnson’s trial in the killing of David Stevens after the former wide receiver’s legal defense declined to call a single witness.

Johnson was accused of waiting on a trail in East Dallas four years ago and attacking the 53-year-old mechanical engineer as he ran by. Prosecutors have said the 25-year-old Johnson confessed to the seemingly random killing and that DNA evidence also pointed to his guilt.

The verdict, which came a day after the trial began, follows years of legal dispute over whether Johnson was mentally competent to be tried.