Sarasota man pleads guilty to 2022 murder

A Sarasota man, Johnny Evans, has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for a 2022 murder after the 23-year-old pleaded guilty in 12th Judicial Circuit Court. The guilty plea came after a July 14 Stand Your Ground hearing before Judge Dana Moss, when Evans was ordered to stand trial beginning July 24.

Shortly after midnight on Jan. 6, 2022, Evans fatally shot a man outside of Moore’s Grocery at 1993 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. Later that day, he fled to Mississippi in a rental car, where he evaded law enforcement for approximately two months. 

Evans was apprehended on Feb. 5, 2022, with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service.