Lithonia man convicted of 2020 kidnapping, murder and burning evidence to hide the crime

DECATUR, GA–DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announces a conviction by jury trial in the case of a Lithonia man charged with shooting a man to death and then trying to burn the evidence. 

Jurors found Earnest Lee Johnson, 28, guilty of Malice Murder, Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, Kidnapping, Arson in the Second Degree and Concealing the Death of Another in connection with the death of Chanceler McCall, 23, on Dec. 28, 2020. Jurors reached their decision on last Friday, Feb. 14.

DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Tangela Barrie, who presided over the trial, will schedule a sentencing hearing for Johnson in the coming weeks. 

According to the investigation, officers with the DeKalb County Police Department responded shortly after 6 p.m. to a call about a person shot in the 5000 block of Donnell Way in unincorporated Decatur.  When police arrived, they found several shell casings and a pool of blood in the road, but did not find a shooting victim.  The pool of blood appeared as though someone had tried to wash it away.  Officers found a hose laying in the front yard of a nearby home dripping water.  In the driveway, they saw two cars: a Kia Soul with several bullet holes and a Chrysler sedan.  A Pontiac G6, which investigators learned belonged to Johnson, was parked on the street in front of the house.   

Crime scene investigators collected the shell casings, as well as blood samples from the scene. 

Detectives spoke to witnesses in the area who said they heard the shooting and then saw two men put a body into the back of a dark colored vehicle and drive away. 

On Dec. 31, 2020, Chanceler McCall’s mother called DeKalb County Police to report him missing.  She told investigators she had last seen her son on Dec. 28 and that he was driving a maroon Dodge Challenger.  She also said that Chanceler had an ongoing dispute with Defendant Johnson. 

Using a DNA sample provide by McCall’s mother, investigators determined the blood found at the crime scene was a match for her son. 

Detectives learned that in the early morning hours of Dec. 29, 2020, Chanceler McCall’s Dodge Challenger had been discovered abandoned and burned about a mile and a half away from where the shooting happened.  Johnson’s Pontiac was also found on fire that day behind a shopping center in Conyers.  An accelerant was found in the front seat of Johnson’s car.

DeKalb County Police arrested Johnson on March 10, 2021.  At the time of his arrest, Johnson had a gun that matched several of the shell casings recovered at the shooting scene.  

Additionally, Johnson’s internet history revealed he had searched “self-defense definition,” “malice aforethought,” “manslaughter,” “homicide,” and other similar phrases in the days leading up to the crime.   

In December 2021, Chanceler McCall’s skeletal remains were discovered near I-20 in Morgan County. 

The case, assigned to the Homicide and Gangs Unit, was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Tauri Williams, with assistance from Assistant District Attorney Laura James, District Attorney Investigator Rashad Rawlings and Supervising Victim Advocate Millicent Taylor.  DeKalb County Police Department Detective Collins led the initial investigation.