Woman pleads guilty to murder in 2022 shooting at Warner Robin convenience store

A Warner Robins woman has pleaded guilty to one count of malice murder and two counts of aggravated assault and was sentenced to life in prison.

Surayah Guyana Johnson, 24, entered the guilty plea Friday morning in the Superior Court of Houston County before her trial was scheduled to Monday.

Johnson was sentenced to serve life in the state DOC on the murder charge, with two 20-year prison sentences on the aggravated assault charges to run concurrently with the life sentence.

In June 2022, Johnson shot and killed Jamal Colson at a convenience store located in the 600 block of North Davis Drive in Warner Robins during an argument. Johnson also injured two other victims in the early morning shooting.

Officials said after shooting Colson, Johnson turned and fired into a crowd of people running away from the shots toward the front of the convenience store, striking two people before returning to Colson, who was laying on the ground in front of the gas pumps, and fired several more times into his body.

Colson was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital, and was unarmed during the the altercation, police said. The shooting was captured on the convenience store’s surveillance footage.

District Attorney William Kendall said Johnson has no place in the community.

“In preparation for the upcoming trial, Johnson pleaded guilty to malice murder and will spend the foreseeable future behind bars where she belongs,” Kendall said. “This type of heinous act not only ended a life, but jeopardized the lives and freedom of others who had no part in her feud with Mr. Colson.”

This story was originally published February 9, 2024 at 2:29 PM.