Jawan C. Carroll was sentenced to 69 years in prison Friday for the 2021 shooting outside a Minneapolis nightclub that left two people dead, including St. Thomas senior Charlie Johnson.

Carroll, 25, of Minneapolis, was found guilty in October of two counts of second-degree murder and seven counts of attempted second-degree murder. Johnson, 21, was struck in the back as Carroll and Christopher Jones, 24, exchanged gunfire, according to authorities. Johnson and Jones both died at the scene.

“Charlie was the opposite of the violence that took his life,” his father, Greg Johnson, said through tears at Friday’s sentencing in Hennepin County Court.

Johnson, of Golden Valley, was a mechanical engineering major at St. Thomas. He died less than 12 hours before he was set to graduate. Just before 2 a.m. on May 22, 2021, Johnson was trying to flee the gunfire when he was struck half a block away from the Monarch nightclub.

Before Carroll’s sentencing, Greg Johnson spoke of the empathy and compassion his son had for others. He talked about his son’s study abroad trip to Peru where he helped local farmers improve their farming machinery.

“Charlie was looking to build and give to the world, but he wasn’t able to do that,” Greg Johnson said.

He spoke of the senseless nature of the crime and of receiving a phone call from his daughter in the middle of the night saying that they had lost Charlie.

“I’ve lost my son and best friend,” he said.

Carroll will serve consecutive sentences of 326 months for his two second-degree murder convictions, plus concurrent sentences of 180 months for each of his seven attempted second-degree murder convictions.

Jones’ sister, Krishina Jones, spoke of the physical, mental and financial turmoil her brother’s death put her through, saying she became “severely depressed” after his death.

“The only thing I can think about throughout the day is my brother,” Jones said. “He brought nothing but laughs and good vibes to any and every room he was in.”

Carroll expressed his condolences to the victims’ families and stated that he never intended to hurt Johnson but that he wanted to defend himself.

“That horrible night, I was put in a situation to be taken away from my family and kids,” Carroll said.

Carroll also said he “felt swindled” by the jury’s four-hour deliberation before his conviction, claiming that “jurors made a conscious decision based on prejudice” against him.

Hennepin County District Judge Paul Scoggin rejected Carroll’s claim of self-defense, stating that the defendant was “down there, loaded and ready to go.”

While Scoggin told the courtroom he anticipates an appeal, at Friday’s sentencing, he reflected on Carroll’s history of gang violence.

“I think you hopped on that train years before, and it finally crashed,” Scoggin said.

Since Charlie Johnson’s death, his family has created a study abroad fund at St. Thomas for students called The Charlie Fund, which intends to provide a study abroad experience for students who otherwise could not afford to go.

“I am Charlie, and I will carry him with me for the rest of my life,” Greg Johnson said.

Cam Kauffman can be reached at kauf8536@stthomas.edu.