The family of a Detroit woman who was shot and left to die on the street last summer is finally receiving justice after her killer was arrested over the weekend.
Clarita Poole was wearing only her bra when a man on his way to the store found her laying on the ground with a gunshot wound to her head. The Good Samaritan transported her to a fire station on the city’s west side. From there she was taken to a local hospital where she was declared brain dead before she died. Poole was 27.
For eight months her killer remained at large — until this week when Detroit police announced that Dorian Johnson, Poole’s boyfriend, was arrested on March 5 and charged in connection with the fatal shooting, PEOPLE reports.
Johnson is being held in the local jail until his next court date on March 25. He’s facing charges that include first-degree homicide and firearms possession by a felon.
Read More: Man linked to 3 Ohio homicides dies after Detroit shooting
“She was a good person,” the victim’s sister Sharita Pool told Fox2 Detroit. “She was a really, really good person.”
Sharita told reporters last July that the family suspected Sharita’s boyfriend was connected to her death.
“From his social media you can just tell he is not a good person,” she said at the time, without mentioning Johnson’s name. Sharita said her sister and the man two constantly argued, and he even threatened to have Clarita gang-raped. He also used her for money but that didn’t stop her from buying him a car.
“If he personally does not have that gun powder on his hands, he knows who did it and he’s the one who set it up to be done,” Sharita said, adding that the family wasn’t incredibly fond of this man.
“It wasn’t much she would tell us because she knew we didn’t like him, we didn’t know her around him,” Sharita said. “We tried to warn her from the very second we heard about this guy.”
Read More: Why is the city of Detroit countersuing protesters after violent encounters with police?
Sharita made clear at the time of her sister’s death that Clarita was indeed a victim of cold-blooded murder.
“It was a murder. She was purposely hurt. She was murdered,” Sharita said. “I just want her to know that we’re not going to stop, we’re not going to sleep until we find out who did this to her.”
The family is relieved that Johnson has been arrested.
“I think that justice happens if you don’t give up,” Sharita told Fox2 Detroit. “You keep your heart and mind into it and you pray on it.”
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!