CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A Clayton County jury has convicted a man in the 2021 killing of his childhood friend and former basketball teammate.
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Nicholas Lloyd Price was found guilty of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in the death of Norman Johnson III, according to Clayton County District Attorney Tasha M. Mosley.
The verdict stems from a June 9, 2021, shooting at an apartment complex in Riverdale.
Just before 9:45 p.m., officers responded to a reported shooting at a residence on Highway 85. When they arrived, they found Johnson inside an apartment suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Prosecutors said he had been shot 13 times. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
During the trial, prosecutors presented surveillance footage showing Price arriving at the apartment complex in a silver Audi and remaining in the area for nearly two hours while watching Johnson’s apartment.
The footage showed Price walking toward the apartment shortly after Johnson’s friends left. Prosecutors said he was later captured on video running from the apartment carrying a book bag.
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Investigators also presented cell phone records that placed Price near Johnson’s apartment at the time of the shooting.
The case remained unsolved until February 2022, when law enforcement received a tip linking Price to the killing. Detectives later learned Price and Johnson had been childhood friends and former basketball teammates.
According to investigators, evidence against Price led detectives to examine his associates, ultimately connecting them to Tremaine Jackson. Authorities determined robbery was the motive behind the killing.
Price was arrested in 2025 and indicted alongside Jackson in October 2023 on murder and related charges.
Last year, the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office announced Jackson’s arrest after investigators located him at an apartment complex off Bouldercrest Road with assistance from Cobb County and DeKalb County police. Jackson remains charged in Clayton County with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and firearm-related offenses.
Jackson was indicted alongside Price on the same charges in October 2023. His case is still pending, and he has not yet gone to trial.
Following a four-day trial that began Aug. 17 and concluded Aug. 20, a judge sentenced Price to life in prison with the possibility of parole, plus five years.
“I want to commend my team for their hard work in securing justice on behalf of Mr. Norman Johnson III,” Mosley said in a statement. “While this conviction cannot undo the heinous act of violence, it is our sincere hope that his family has found some measure of peace through this outcome.”
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