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PROVO — A man who served more than 20 years in prison for murder is facing new charges less than two years after he was paroled.
Solomon Lee Johnson, 42, of Orem, was charged Friday in 4th District Court with aggravated burglary, a first-degree felony; possession of a weapon by a restricted person, a second-degree felony; and aggravated assault, a third-degree felony.
His girlfriend, Chante Lynn King, 38, of Provo, was also charged Friday with obstructing justice, a third-degree felony.
On July 19, Johnson allegedly entered a woman's home without permission.
Johnson "knocked the victim down and held a pillow to her head. (He) then held the gun to the pillow. The victim stated that she could feel the gun through the pillow. The victim also stated that the defendant threatened to kill her and her children," according to charging documents.
When King tried to intervene, Johnson pushed her out of the house, then went back to the first woman, a police booking affidavit states. "The victim stated Solomon's girlfriend then broke the window to the house and stated police were coming."
Johnson then drove away from the scene.
When police located King and questioned her, she denied having communication with Johnson and said she did not know where he went, "but knew he was not coming back. Chante would not say how she knew that," the affidavit states.
The next day, July 20, King was pulled over by the Utah Highway Patrol in the vehicle that Johnson had fled in, according to police. They also learned that King had been in contact with Johnson's family.
Wednesday, Provo police asked for the public's help in locating Johnson, requesting that anyone who might know of his whereabouts to call the department, and warned that he should be considered "armed and dangerous." Later that day, King was arrested for investigation of obstruction. That night, officers from multiple agencies located Johnson in Orem and arrested him.
Johnson was originally charged with capital murder in 1999 when he was 18 after bursting into a West Valley apartment and shooting 16-year-old Wilber Canales three times at close range, killing him, and injuring an 18-year-old man in a gang-related shooting. With the charge, Johnson became the youngest person in Salt Lake County in 40 years to face a possible death sentence.
In 2000, after being convicted of aggravated murder, he was sentenced to life in the Utah State Prison with the possibility of parole. He was granted parole by the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole in August of 2021. The board issued a warrant for his arrest a day after the alleged crime in Provo.
