CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Defense attorney Eric Korslund is seeking to have his client Tia Johnson’s first-degree murder conviction dismissed, claiming prosecutorial misconduct in Chesapeake.
Watch previous coverage: Defense said 911 call didn't exist in murder trial, but WTKR found it
Korslund recently filed a motion to dismiss the case against Johnson, who was convicted of killing her boyfriend, Martario Gee, in February 2024.
"This is a very unfortunate situation. I've been practicing for 20 years. This is the first time I've ever filed this motion," Korslund said.
The incident was caught on a Ring camera, showing Johnson shooting Gee as he was walking away from her house. Johnson was convicted of first-degree murder in January 2025, but she has maintained that she did not mean for him to die.
"I didn't mean for him to die. I was trying to protect my children," Johnson said.
Johnson spoke to the News 3 Investigative Team from jail. She said she called 911 before the shooting, wanting help to get Gee to leave her house. The two had been dating for a few months. She claims fights would turn physical every few weeks.
Watch: Body cam video shows police responding to 911 calls made from Tia Johnson’s home
Korslund alleges that the prosecutors withheld crucial evidence from the defense, including previous 911 calls that Johnson had made. He claims that before the trial, his request for these 911 records was denied, with authorities stating that the calls did not exist.
"For this evidence, for the 911 call, for the body camera footage, I'm completely reliant on the Commonwealth to provide it to me. I cannot do a FOIA request or (Freedom of Information request) because it’s an ongoing investigation," Korslund said.
Watch previous coverage: Lawyer of woman convicted of murder wants new trial after WTKR uncovers 911 call
After a conviction, more information can be made available to the public.
WTKR News 3 Investigator Margaret Kavanagh started looking into the case and requested all the calls for service to Johnson’s home for the past two years.
She uncovered records of two 911 calls made by Johnson: one for a domestic complaint and another from a citizen assist call, about seven weeks before the deadly shooting.
Korslund was shocked to learn about this evidence, which he believes should have been provided to the defense.
"I believed when they told me it doesn't exist, that it doesn't exist. I believed the detective when he testified at trial that he scoured everything and looked through everything and couldn't find the calls. I believed the Commonwealth’s Attorney when he told the jury, ‘maybe she was abused or maybe she wasn't but there's just no report of it.’ So when I discovered that in fact it existed, it was shocking," Korslund said.
News 3's discovery led to Korslund filing a motion to again request all evidence be turned over.
The Commonwealth’s Attorney issued a press release when Johnson was convicted in January.
In February, News 3 asked about the 911 calls that were not given to the defense attorney and whether they thought Johnson received a fair trial.
They issued the following statement:
“The Commonwealth is aware of the Motion filed by the Defense. We will file a responsive pleading as appropriate with the court.
As we articulated earlier, this matter is still pending sentencing on May 19, 2025, and therefore it is still considered an on-going case. Also, and as noted last week to you, It is our office’s policy, and in keeping with our ethical responsibilities as prosecutors, to not provide extrajudicial commentary on pending cases.”
But the response to Korslund motion filed in court gives more insight they say in part – “In those videos, there is never an allegation of assault or physical contact by either party, neither of the parties alleged or showed any injuries to the officers.”
They say were both uncooperative, wouldn’t give their names or identify themselves. They said there was no evidence that they needed to turn over and they strongly disagree this is a violation in any way.
WTKR News 3 ran another story in March showing the new body camera video that we obtained from a FOIA request from the day police responded to the home 7 weeks before the shooting. We again asked for a comment from the Commonwealth’s Attorney.
“We have fully responded to all requests made my Ms. Johnson’s attorney, and we have filed a responsive pleading to the only motion the attorney has filed on her behalf. Should her attorney file any further motions with the Court, we will continue to address any issues raised in the courtroom and not the media.”
Korslund told us he doesn’t want the case retried — he wants it completely dismissed.
We got the following statement from the Commonwealth’s Attorney: “The Commonwealth will respond to this motion in due course.”
Korslund said he doesn’t think the Commonwealth should benefit with the luxury of having a new trial when he believes they are the ones who didn’t hand over the previous 911 calls.
He doesn’t think Johnson got a fair trial and said the jury didn’t hear all the facts.
“It’s a very unfortunate situation. We all want to rely on our justice system and we all want to have faith in it and this completely undermines it. So I think everyone’s a victim when something like this happens, not just my client,” said Korslund.
Johnson has a presentencing hearing scheduled for May 19.
