On May 2, 1944, Phoenix Police Officer David Lee “Star" Johnson was shot and killed, making him the second Phoenix police officer to die in the line of duty. His sacrifice has never been recognized by the City as a fallen officer. As we near the 80th anniversary of his death, the City of Phoenix is now honoring Johnson for paying the ultimate price.
Johnson's story has never been widely shared by the department. Many officers have not heard of the 36-year-old from Texas and the events surrounding his death. As a result of the persistence and dedication of a few people inside the Phoenix Police Department, his story is now being shared and honor given.
Phoenix in the 1940s was a very different place than it is today, and so was the nation. The United States had just come out of the Great Depression, World War II was in full swing, and segregation was still prevalent in the country.
Johnson was an Army veteran and was one of the few African American police officers in Phoenix at the time. He had been an officer for two and a half years when he was killed and was assigned to the walking beat in Downtown Phoenix.
At that time, African American officers were restricted to working a specific area of the city. Their beat was in the area between First Street and 16th Street, Van Buren Street and Jackson Street.
The story of what happened to Johnson on the day of his death has been pieced together from various police records, court records and newspaper articles by the Phoenix Police Department Historian Sergeant Vincent Cole, and retired Phoenix Police Lieutenant Rob Settembre.
“This is a very, very complex chain of events that occurred prior to the death, during the death and even after," Cole said.
On May 2, 1944, Johnson was working with his partner, Officer Joe Davis, when they witnessed a traffic violation and stopped the vehicle near 2nd Street and Jefferson Street.
It is unknown exactly who was in the vehicle at the time of the traffic violation, but Detective Leonce “Frenchy" Navarre is known to have been on the scene and off-duty at the time of the incident. It is also documented that Davis left his partner to go into a business nearby while Johnson was working the traffic stop.
The records indicate that an argument occurred between Johnson and Navarre over the traffic stop and a ticket that Johnson was going to write for running a stop sign.
“That resulted in Navarre opening fire on Star. Star fled the area after being shot and collapsed into a nearby business. He was transported to a local hospital where he later died," shared Cole.
In the following days, Navarre was arrested and charged for the murder of Johnson.
During the trial, several witnesses were interviewed, and Navarre was quoted saying his justification for the shooting was that Johnson called him a “son of a bitch" and that he would not be treated like that from anyone. Navarre also used a derogatory term referring to Johnson's race during his testimony. The trail resulted in a hung jury. He was retried and the second trial ended with Navarre being acquitted.
After his acquittal, Navarre was allowed to return to work as a detective and was assigned to Police Headquarters, which back then was at 17 S. 2nd Street.
Davis, upset about the death of his partner and the acquittal of Navarre, confronted Navarre at Headquarters. Davis shot and killed Navarre.
Like Navarre, there is a hung jury for Davis' first trial. At the second trial, Davis was found guilty of manslaughter. He served a few years in prison and was released on parole.
“This happened 80 years ago, and it took a lot of digging to put the pieces of the puzzle together, but once we were able to successfully do that, this is the right thing for us to do," said Cole.
This spring, Johnson will finally be recognized on both a local and national level.
Settembre and Cole devoted many hours over the years researching and putting the pieces of the puzzle together. They attempted a number of times to get him recognized as a fallen officer, with no luck, until now. The pair was able to get Johnson recognized as a fallen officer by both the City of Phoenix and the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.
Cole shared that it would not have been possible without the help of Executive Assistant Chief Sean Connolly, Executive Assistant Chief Derek Elmore, Commander Shane Disotell and Commander Gabe Lopez for their assistance in research and their support of getting Cole the opportunity to present Johnson's story to Interim Police Chief Michael Sullivan.
“When I heard the story and got a full brief, I knew that we had to do the right thing because there is never a wrong time to do the right thing," said Sullivan.
Settembre had previously gotten Johnson recognized at the state level and his name added to the Peace Officer Memorial outside of the State Capitol in Wesley Bolin Plaza.
“Officer Johnson has been recognized for a number of years at the state level, but I think it is very important that we enshrine his name in Washington D.C. so that the rest of the nation knows about this story," Sullivan said.
On March 21, 2024, the City of Phoenix added Johnson's name on the Employee Memorial Wall located outside of City Hall, 200 W. Washington Street.
The Phoenix Police Department will honor him on April 30, 2024, for the first time during the 11th Annual Phoenix Police Officer Memorial. And on May 2, 2024, the 80th anniversary of this death, the police department will unveil a historical marker near the location the shooting, 219 E. Jefferson Street.
In May, Johnson's name is being added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial wall in Washington D.C. during National Police Week. Police Week is the week that May 15, Peace Officers Memorial Day, falls in and is a week of events that honor those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.
The Phoenix Police Museum will also be adding Johnson to their memorial wall, an event is still being planned for the unveiling.
Johnson was single at the time of his death and unfortunately, no familial connection has been found to represent him during these events. At the time of his death, he was survived by an aunt and uncle.
Please follow along on the Phoenix Police Department's social media channels, @phoenixpolice, as Johnson is being honored during the various events this spring.