AURORA | The man accused of fatally shooting an Aurora Public Schools assistant principal and former NFL player at Eaglecrest High School on Sunday turned himself into police minutes after the shooting, according to a probable cause statement filed in Arapahoe County court Tuesday.
Marcus Johnson, 31, has been charged for murdering Anthony “T.J.” Cunningham, 46, following an argument over a parking spot near the two neighbors’ homes in unincorporated Arapahoe County.
Johnson appeared in Arapahoe County District Court Tuesday to be formally advised of the first-degree murder charge currently filed against him.
Cunningham, a former University of Colorado football star and NFL player, was working as an assistant principal at Hinkley High School.
He was pronounced brain dead at a Parker hospital yesterday, according to the court filing.
Johnson and Cunningham met at Eaglecrest High School Sunday morning to “box it out” and resolve the ongoing parking dispute, according to the probable cause statement.
The two men were neighbors in the 5000 block of Rome Street in unincorporated Arapahoe County.
Cunningham’s brother, 18-year-old Tyrese McClintonel, accompanied the former Overland High School football star to the Eaglecrest parking lot.
Once at the school, Johnson and Cunningham started walking toward each other and yelling obscenities, McClintonel told investigators.
Cunningham was holding a bottle, but was otherwise unarmed, McClintonel said.
Johnson then shot Cunningham three times, striking him in the head and chest.
As Arapahoe County Sheriff’s deputies were driving to the scene, dispatchers told them there was a man at the school “on the ground with blood all over,” according to the court filing.
Johnson called 911 as deputies were on their way to Eaglecrest and told dispatchers he had just shot his neighbor. He said he was at his house at 5022 Rome St. in unincorporated Arapahoe County and the gun he used to shoot his neighbor was in his car.
Deputies found Johnson outside his house and arrested him shortly after 9:30 a.m. on Sunday. Investigators found a black handgun in a car in the driveway “in plain view.”
Officials were initially holding Johnson on an attempted murder charge, according to a spokeswoman from the sheriff’s office. That charge has since been changed to first-degree murder.
Several officials and organizations expressed their condolences for Cunningham and his family on Monday.
“We were deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the death of T.J. Cunningham,” CU Athletic Director Rick George said in a statement. “He was a good family man and had a strong passion for working with young people.”
Cunningham, who went by the nickname T.J. for Tony Jr., was a defensive back and wide receiver for the buffaloes from 1992 to 1995. He was later drafted by the Seattle Seahawks.
Johnson, an alumnus of Central High School in Aurora, is next due in court in Arapahoe County at 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 22 in Division 204.