Citing “insufficient evidence,” a Solano County Superior Court judge on Friday ruled that the primary charge against a defendant charged with a fatal May stabbing in Fairfield “is to be reflected” in jury instructions as second-degree murder, not first-degree. The order by Judge Stephanie Grogan Jones came Friday afternoon when she told attorneys in the case there was not enough evidence to support a first-degree murder charge against Kristopher Robert Johnson, 37, of Fairfield. During the afternoon session in Department 12, the judge and the attorneys reviewed jury instructions and the verdict form, which will be read to the 12-member panel after Deputy District Attorney Amanda Farr, who leads the prosecution, and Alternate Public Defender Rohan Beesla finish their closing arguments. Farr rested her case on Nov. 20, after several days of witness testimony and the presentation of other evidence, including photos of the deceased victim, Raymond Antonio Moore, 30, Johnson’s brother-in-law, and photos of the alleged murder weapon. Beesla is expected to call at least one additional witness, then rest, when the trial resumes at 10 a. m. Dec. 1 in the Justice Center in Fairfield. Afterward, the judge may read some initial jury instructions, then Farr and Beesla will offer their closing arguments, followed by Farr’s rebuttal to the defense. The jury will then begin deliberations. Johnson is alleged to have stabbed Moore twice in the chest, puncturing his lungs, and died on the floor of a home he shared with Jehsikkah Plummer, his wife of two weeks, on May 27 in the 2000 block of Eagle Way. The stabbing occurred after the two men got into a fist fight outside the home and continued the violent conflict some moments later inside the home. Johnson, Fairfield police investigators said, fled the scene and was arrested about 24 hours later at Lincoln Road East motel in Vallejo. A previously convicted felon, Johnson faced arraignment on June 6, and, following a preliminary hearing, a held-to-answer arraignment on Aug. 28. He has pleaded not guilty to killing Moore, a Vanden High graduate and musician who played in several area bands and who also taught music to Solano youths. Court records show Johnson pleaded no contest to assault with a deadly weapon on Aug. 11, 2014, and was sentenced to four years in prison. Also, on July 26, 2018, he pleaded no contest to another assault-with-a-deadly-weapon charge and was sentenced to three years probation on Oct. 9, 2018. Also, court records indicate Johnson was arrested on June 6, while in custody, by Solano County Sheriff deputies on suspicion of a Aug. 27, 2024, attempted murder and being a felon or addict in possession of a firearm. The criminal complaint in that case indicates he “inflicted great bodily injury” to a victim identified only by the initials J. J. It is unclear why Johnson was arrested in June and not beforehand for an alleged 2024 crime. He remains without bail in the Stanton Correctional Facility in Fairfield.
https://www.thereporter.com/2025/11/24/jurors-to-consider-2nd-degree-charge-in-fatal-fairfield-stabbing-case/
Jurors to consider 2nd-degree charge in fatal Fairfield stabbing case
