Wiggins man convicted in brutal death of his educator mother

A Stone County jury took just 18 minutes to convict a Wiggins man  of the brutal 2018 killing of his mother.

Terelle Johnson was convicted of first degree murder in the beating and choking death of his mother, 51-year-old Sherry Johnson, and then using a butter knife, his hands and his teeth to decapitate her.

Sherry Johnson’s body was found in the backyard of her house on June 6, 2018, when Stone County Sheriff’s deputies arrived for a welfare check after her brother had not heard from her in days.

Her head was found her head behind a privacy fence.

Sherry Johnson was an educator, serving as a guidance counselor at Hattiesburg High School.

An argument allegedly began over credit cards and escalated from there, according to a confession from Terelle Johnson.

His attorney, Jim Davis of Gulfport, said Terelle Johnson was insane when he committed the crime. The jury did not accept the argument.

Prosecutors are said he was under the influence of drugs and that he did know what he was doing when he took his mother’s life.