Cedar Rapids man convicted of lesser charge in 2016 Fort Dodge fatal shooting

A Cedar Rapids man pleaded guilty last week to an amended charge in the fatal shooting of a Fort Dodge man in 2016.

Christopher Todd Johnson, originally charged with first-degree murder, pleaded guilty last Friday in Webster County to voluntary manslaughter. He faces 10 years in prison.

Johnson, 50, fatally shot Donald Edward Preston, 51, of Fort Dodge, on Dec. 20, 2016, while the men were in Johnson’s Toyota Corolla, according to criminal complaint. Johnson showed Preston his handgun and then shot him. Preston died from gunshot injuries to his head and abdomen, according to the autopsy.

The body was left in a field in rural Webster County and found by a farmer, according to court documents. There were three .40 caliber rounds and six spent .40 caliber shell casings found at the scene.

Court documents filed in 2017 stated Shawna Anderson, during an interview, told police Johnson pulled out a handgun and pointed it at her head Dec. 19, 2016, while she and Johnson were at the residence of Raul Crioyos in Fort Dodge. Anderson said she sent a text to Preston to help her.

Preston came to the house and confronted Johnson. After the incident, Crioyos told Anderson that a gun Johnson had that day was a .40 caliber.

Jacob Davidson also told police he was at Crioyos’ house when the gun incident happened. He drove Preston home, and Johnson also was a passenger, according to a search warrant affidavit. After they dropped off Preston, Johnson asked Davidson to buy some ammunition for Johnson’s handgun at Walmart.

Davidson said he and Johnson then went to Lizard Creek and practiced shooting the gun, the affidavit stated. Davidson said the gun was a .40 caliber Glock. Casings from Lizard Creek, where Davidson said they were, were collected and tested as being fired from the same firearm as the casings found around Preston’s body.

Crioyos told police that Preston came over to his house looking for a charger on Dec. 20, 2016, and that Preston and Johnson, who also was there, left in Johnson’s car.

According to court documents, Johnson’s car was towed Dec. 21, 2016, from an address in Jefferson, about 35 miles south of where Preston’s body was found. The vehicle was abandoned and out of gas. Police obtained a search warrant and found two cellphones. Investigators believed one of the phones belonged to Preston.

A witness told police he found Johnson sneaking around his house in Dayton on Dec. 21, 2016, and Johnson told him his vehicle broke down in Jefferson and wanted a ride. The witness told Johnson no, and he left.

The next time he spoke to Johnson was on April 13 or 14, 2017, and Johnson said he had hid a gun in the crawl space of Johnson’s trailer, according to court documents.

Johnson was arrested May 30, 2017, after a woman reported he was sneaking around her house a few days earlier. Johnson was hiding in a nearby building, armed with two .22 caliber handguns. He was charged with being a felon in possession of firearms.

During an interview with police before his arrest, on Jan. 20, 2017, Johnson said the last time he saw Preston was around Thanksgiving 2016 when they were driving around on Webster County gravel roads, the affidavit stated. Johnson said he showed Preston his .40 caliber Glock and shot it out the window of his car.

Later, Johnson said he sold the gun to Preston “around the time his vehicle was towed,” which would have been Dec. 20, 2016.

Johnson was convicted in federal court of being a felon in possession of a firearm and sentenced to six years in federal prison in 2020.

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