South Carolina Department of Public Safety
News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 26, 2009

CONTACT:  Sgt. R.K. Hughes, 803-530-1664

TROOPER ARRESTS MASSACHUSETTS MAN WANTED FOR MURDER

COLUMBIA – The South Carolina Highway Patrol arrested a man Sunday night wanted for murder in Massachusetts.

Senior Trooper J.C. Elliott stopped a motorist about 6 p.m. for speeding on I-20 near the Broad River Road exit in Richland County.

The driver, Brian C. Johnson, 25, Lithonia, Ga., was driving 76 in a 60 mph zone. Elliott found that Johnson was driving under suspension and was wanted out of Lithonia on drug trafficking charges. Johnson was charged with speeding, no driver’s license and possessing an open container of alcohol.

While Elliott talked with the driver, the trooper noticed the smell of marijuana coming from the vehicle. There were three other passengers in the vehicle. Elliott proceeded to search the vehicle and the remaining three occupants.

Elliott arrested one of the passengers, Kenchesser Martin, 26, of Chelsea, Mass., for possession of marijuana. Martin did not have identification and gave police a false name. When authorities at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center checked Martin’s fingerprints, they found that he was wanted for murder in Massachusetts.

The other two passengers in Johnson’s vehicle were released.

Martin and Johnson are being held at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Richland County.

“I believe the situation Senior Trooper Elliott faced emphasizes the dangers on our highways and the risk our troopers face every time they stop a vehicle,” said SCHP Colonel Kenny Lancaster, Jr. “We are very proud of Senior Trooper Elliott for using his training and instincts, which successfully led to the arrest of two suspected felons without incident.”

Elliott has been with the Highway Patrol since 2006 and works in Richland County.