{"id":301977,"date":"2026-06-10T00:17:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T00:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/301977\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T00:17:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T00:17:14","slug":"mother-to-judge-fatal-shooting-in-lauderhill-could-have-been-prevented","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/301977\/","title":{"rendered":"Mother to judge: Fatal shooting in Lauderhill \u2018could have been prevented\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAUDERHILL, Fla. \u2014 Reginald Merisma had threatened Anthony Johnson before Johnson, 35, called 911 on Sunday night<\/a>, and police officers found Merisma, 35, dead, according to the Lauderhill Police Department.<\/p>\n

Leer en espa\u00f1ol<\/a><\/p>\n

On Monday<\/a>, police officers arrested Johnson, and Broward Sheriff\u2019s Office corrections booked him at the Broward County Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale, according to inmate records. <\/p>\n

When Johnson appeared in bond court on Tuesday in Broward County, Attorney Joshua Rydell was representing him, and his mother, Cora Johnson, told the judge her son was \u201da good” person. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf bullying is prevented, this could have been prevented also,\u201d Johnson\u2019s mother said during the hearing.<\/p>\n

Johnson faced a first-degree murder charge. Broward County Circuit Judge Corey Friedman denied bond. <\/p>\n

Before the shooting, Johnson told the 911 dispatcher that Merisma \u201cwas threatening people,\u201d and surveillance video shows Johnson armed with a gun when Merisma raised his arms and hid behind a trash can, Lt. Antonio Gonzalez, a spokesman for the LPD, said on Monday<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cBSO dispatch heard a loud banging over the open line\u201d during Johnson\u2019s 911 call before Johnson confessed, \u201cI just shot him,\u201d according to Gonzalez.<\/p>\n

A relative said Merisma had made threats before, and the shooting was in self-defense. Attorney Jack Palmeri, a former prosecutor not connected to the case, said a Stand Your Ground defense was likely. <\/p>\n

The shooting was outside of Johnson\u2019s home, in a driveway near Northwest 34 Terrace and Ninth Street, records show.<\/p>\n

Gonzalez reported that Johnson first shot Mersima when he was raising his arms and later once in the head when he was hiding behind his garbage can. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou have lost sight,\u201d Palmeri said about Johnson\u2019s decision to fire. \u201cYou don\u2019t know what that harm is doing behind the garbage can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Broward County Circuit Judge Thomas Coleman was set to preside over the capital homicide case.<\/p>\n

Johnson\u2019s bond court hearing<\/p>\n

Anthony Johnson appears in Broward County bond court <\/p>\n

Related reports<\/p>\n

Location <\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAUDERHILL, Fla. \u2014 Reginald Merisma had threatened Anthony Johnson before Johnson, 35, called 911 on Sunday night, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301978,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250],"class_list":["post-301977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}