OLIVETTE — Prosecutors have charged an Olivette man with shooting and killing his mother.
Jaylen Johnson, 25, shot his mother, Monica McNichols-Johnson, on Thursday morning as she was trying to get in the back door of their home in the 9600 block of Huron Drive, Olivette police said.
Police responded just before 7:30 a.m. and found McNichols-Johnson, 56, with a gunshot wound. She died there, police said.
Johnson's attorney, William Goldstein, said Johnson believed his mother was an intruder. He said Johnson shot her accidentally.
"He hasn't stopped crying," Goldstein said on Saturday.
Johnson immediately called 911. His girlfriend, who was in the house at the time, tried to tend to her, Goldstein said.
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Johnson is employed, has no criminal history, was a college football player and has "a bright future," Goldstein said. He had been robbed at gunpoint before, Goldstein said, and kept a gun for protection.
"[He's] just a sweetheart of a kid," Goldstein said.
Johnson was charged with manslaughter and armed criminal action.
His bail was set at $100,000.