Friends of Johnson's said he was a funny, respectful teenager who liked to be around people.



The teen, who often cracked jokes, would have been a senior at Bowen High School, said his friend Kiante Litettle, 16.



"He was my right-hand man. He was with me all the time," said Litettle. "They just killed him for no reason."



Neighbor Lovie Bernard, 61, was shocked when she saw a dead snake in the street a while ago, but Johnson came to her rescue and threw out the serpent, she said.



"He was cracking up," Bernard recalled.



Shantell Burnett, 22, said she was in the park when the shootings took place. She had just given Johnson a hug minutes before he was struck.



She said she saw his body near a tree on the ground and knew right away he had died.



'His eyes...were just that dead stare," she said.



An ongoing turfwar between two rival gangs has been growing in the area, but they still frequent the park because they were used to the violence.