A 54-year-old man was convicted of first-degree murder this week for shooting to death a Buena Park man two years ago on an Anaheim street.
An Orange County Superior Court jury deliberated for several hours before finding Glen Ralph Johnson guilty on Tuesday, Aug. 29, of killing 43-year-old Tyrone Portis during a morning confrontation on Aug. 1, 2021, on Laxore Street near Orange Avenue.
Deputy District Attorney Harris Siddiq described Johnson as a “ticking time bomb” who killed Portis in cold blood. Alternate Defender Edwin Beckett countered by arguing the killing was in self-defense.
Witnesses said the driver of a pickup truck — Johnson — walked up to a Toyota Scion after someone in that vehicle yelled, “Hey man!”
Johnson and the driver of the Scion — Portis — stood face to face before a brief verbal exchange and struggle ensued, followed by Johnson shooting Portis, according to court filings.
Johnson had criminal convictions, including for punching a girlfriend in the face, breaking her nose. Meanwhile, the defense attorney in court filings described Portis as a small-time pimp and drug dealer who went by the street moniker “Down Down.”
A Johnson friend, a partner at a doughnut shop on nearby Beach Boulevard, had called him the night of the shooting, apparently to ask him to help run off Portis, who was allegedly hanging around the shop despite being previously banned from the premises.
“This case is about the defendant — a hot tempered, violent man armed with a loaded gun and a high-capacity magazine — out looking for a reason to kill,” Siddiq told jurors during his closing arguments on Monday in a Santa Ana courtroom.
In his own testimony, Johnson said he shot Portis after Portis pulled a gun on him and fired the weapon but apparently missed. But no gun tied to Portis was found by police. Johnson’s attorney told jurors that another person could have taken it before officers arrived.
While the prosecutor argued that only one shot was heard in surveillance video, the defense attorney noted that at least some people who were nearby at the time reported hearing two shots.
“To say that Glenn hates this person, that he has a deep well of hate for someone he doesn’t know, is ridiculous,” Beckett told jurors. “Give me a reason why he would do this. There is nothing there.”
Johnson is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 28.
