INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Sara Mutschlechner’s Killer Found: Marine Cpl. Eric Johnson Charged With Murder

By Shelley Hazen
Published on: 07:02 PST, Jan 5, 2016

A Marine has been arrested in connection with the New Year’s Day shooting death of 20-year-old college student Sara Mutschlechner in Texas.

The man accused is Cpl. Eric Johnson, 25, of Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron-1, ABC News reported. Johnson is stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Arizona. An arrest warrant was served on Johnson Tuesday morning by the U.S. Marshals Service.

He’s been charged with murder.

The Marine Corps stated that the arrest took place at 6:30 a.m., assisted by the station’s Yuma Provost Marshall’s Office and Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

The Marine was taken into custody without incident and didn’t resist arrest, CBS-DFW reported

Sara Mutschlechner, who served as the designated driver that night for her friends after they attended a New Year’s Eve party, was shot in the head after a confrontation with the occupants of another vehicle.

Denton, Texas, police officers said that the exchange was “peaceful at first,” but escalated after the suspects “made some comments towards the girls.”

As the Inquisitr previously reported, Mutschlechner had just left a party with her friends that night, who later reported that Sara had been acting responsibly during the night’s festivities. But on the way home, an SUV pulled up alongside Mutschlechner’s car and words were exchanged with the people in the SUV. As both vehicles began to drive away, someone in the SUV opened fire several times into Sara’s car.

Sara lost control of the vehicle, hit another car, and finally crashed into an electrical pole.

Officers who responded to the shooting found Sarah lying on the ground; she’d been shot in the head. Mutschlechner was rushed to the hospital and later died after being taken off life support. She was an organ donor.

Police believed that the vehicle that pulled up alongside Sara’s may have been a dark-colored Toyota or Lexus SUV, and the occupants were believed to be five to six African-American males. They had found security footage taken near the shooting, which reportedly showed the suspects’ vehicle.

During their investigation into the tragic shooting, police determined that Mutschlechner may have crossed paths with her killer earlier in the evening. The shooting, police theorized, may have been connected to the New Year’s Eve party Sara and her friends attended, along with 60 other people.

“It’s my understanding that they saw them, at least two occupants of the suspects’ vehicle at the party earlier, but it’s my understanding also that they did not know each other,” said police officer Shane Kizer.

For the next seven days, a University of North Texas flag will fly at half-staff in honor of Mutschlechner’s memory. Mere hours after Sara was taken off life support, several hundred fellow students braved the cold to honor Sara with a candlelight vigil.

“Each and every one of our lives … has been touched by the spunky, selfless attitude of our beloved sister, Sara,” said the president of her sorority Zeta Tau Alpha, Jordan Roberts. “[Sara] is by far one of the most spirited, honest and fun-loving people I ever had the privilege to know. She will truly be missed.”

Mutschlechner was a sorority sister and described herself as an “avid movie-goer.” She had majored in radio, television, and film with a minor in theater and wanted to make movies one day. She is remembered by friends and family as a vibrant and caring young woman, who has been described as selfless, spirited, and fun-loving.

“We’re all going to miss her,” Sara’s father, Clay, said. “Some people don’t get to have their kids 20 years. We have to be blessed with what we’ve had with our time spent.”

[Photo via YouTube]

Share this article: Sara Mutschlechner’s Killer Found: Marine Cpl. Eric Johnson Charged With Murder
texas Crime
More from Inquisitr