Houston, TX – The family of Cody Johnson is pleading for answers after the 19-year-old son was killed in a road rage incident back in September on the Katy Freeway.
BACKGROUND: 19-year-old on the way to pick up girlfriend shot, killed in possible road rage shooting along Katy Freeway
Texas leads the nation when it comes to road rage shootings. For Cody Johnson’s family, he was much more than a victim. He was a young man who loved sports, cars, and motorcycles.
“He left my house around 7 o’clock to go to Katy to pick up his girlfriend‚” Cody’s mother Amy Juneau, said. “And that was the last time I saw him. He was shot sometime between 7:50 and 8:05 on Friday night, September 27th.”
“Just not having any answers makes it that much more difficult of, you know, because we don’t know at all what happened. We don’t have any leads on who did this to Cody,” Amy Juneau added.
His family has been dealing with pain, grief, and a lot of unanswered questions.
“If I could trade places with anybody in the world, I would right now. I do not want to be in front of a camera telling you the story of my son. I’d rather be in front of a GM selling cars that he was going to be doing, talking about buying a car. I shouldn’t have to be doing this. None of the parents that have been involved with such tragedies should have to do this. This is so hard,” Cody’s father Mike Johnson said.
“You know, my favorite memory right now is just that I got to spend the last day of his life with him,” Amy Juneau said.
Cody’s family believes his 2011 black Camaro with distinctive gold rims may hold clues to who took his life. They’re hopeful someone, somewhere may remember seeing it that night.
Cody’s parents spoke to KPRC2′s Re’Chelle Turner about the tragedy hoping someone can bring justice to this case.
“He was a great kid and it’s just so unfair that his life was cut short,” Juneau said.
Cody’s parents remember a joyful, funny young man with a love for motorsports. From an early age, Cody bonded with his dad Mike over their love of cars and motorcycles. His prized possession, a black Camaro SuperSport, it was more than just a car; it was a special connection with his father.
“From the time he was two years old, and had a hot wheel in his hand, until he was, until he last passed, everything was revolving around something with a motor. It may be a car, it may be a motorcycle, whatever it was, he enjoyed the tinkering, the different things that we would do. Changing the oil was the last thing I did with him out in the garage on his Camaro. He had a Camaro SuperSport that was loud and proud, and had these gold rims, and he was so excited about,” Johnson said.
Cody’s Camaro was hard to miss. His dad Mike says it stood out on the road.
“It’s a black-on-black Camaro, which you’d think, oh, no big deal, it’s a normal Camaro, but it wasn’t. It actually had a very loud engine. Like, when it started up, it would start off car alarms, so you knew if it was coming. It had very distinct gold rims on it. It had blackout tint all the way around. So, it was something that was not a normal Camaro coming down the road. If it passed you, you would know that, oh, that’s not a normal super sport Camaro. And it wasn’t that he was driving crazy. I mean, our light 360 shows that. But if he drove past you or you passed him, you knew it because of how distinct it was in a traffic circle. Like, if a Lambo comes flying by you or drives up beside you, you recognize that car,” Johnson said.
EXPLAINER: What you should and should NOT do to avoid becoming a victim of road rage
With no leads in the case, names, or description of the suspect, Cody’s family hopes someone recognizes his 2011 black Camaro SuperSport.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the case, and Crimestoppers of houston is offering a $30,000 reward for information about who killed Cody. His family says not knowing who did it makes it even harder to cope.
“I think it’s almost impossible to deal with as a father, or as a mother, or as a stepmom, or a stepfather, or whoever, even grandparents, because it’s so random. You’ve seen all the road raids that’s going on, there was just a recent shooting again, the person lived, and now we’ve got at least a sketch of somebody. I don’t understand, there’s nothing in traffic that’s worth killing another person over,” Johnson said.
Anyone with details can contact Crime Stoppers at 713-222-8477.
During the 7 o’clock hour on the KPRC2 Plus livestream, Cody’s family will continue to share their story and talk about the impact of this tragedy on their lives.