Photo: Jequez Dequinn Barnett,
FLINT – Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said a jury found a 41-year-old man guilty in the 2025 fatal shooting of a 38-year-old Flint resident on Dupont Street in the city of Flint.
Jequez Dequinn Barnett, from Beecher in Mt. Morris Township, was found guilty of second-degree murder and related firearm charges for the May 21, 2025, death of Nathaniel Lamar Johnson.
According to testimony at trial and reports from the Flint Police Department investigation, Barnett and Johnson were hanging out together drinking with two other men when Barnett got upset for some unknown reason and walked away sometime after midnight.
Johnson and another man then got into an SUV that belonged to Johnson’s wife and drove to the corner of Dupont Street and W. Lorado Avenue where they spotted Barnett walking north on Dupont. A Ring doorbell camera from a house at the corner of the scene captured video showing Johnson getting out of the SUV just as Barnett is passing Lorado. The video captures some audio that appears to record Barnett yelling at Johnson and the other man as Johnson begins walking from Lorado toward Barnett who is still heading north on Dupont.
As Johnson approaches Barnett, Barnett turns and faces Johnson, and yelling continues along with each man shoving the other. Then gunfire is heard and Johnson falls to the ground in the middle of Dupont Street and Barnett walks over and stands over Johnson’s body for a few seconds and yells some words and then continues walking north on Dupont Street and out of the video.
The police investigation identified Barnett as a suspect and he was located, apprehended and taken into custody.
“This is another very unfortunate incident in our community involving guns and alcohol and an argument among men who were presumably friends and at least acquaintances,” said Prosecutor David Leyton after the jury returned with its verdict.
Leyton continued: “This happens far too often in our community and led to the death of one man and the
ultimate incarceration of another man for a very long time.”
Barnett faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced on July 6.
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Prosecutor Leyton praised the work of his staff including Assistant Prosecutor Steven Ellis who took the case to trial with the invaluable support of his paralegal, legal assistant and victim advocate. Prosecutor Leyton also thanked the City of Flint Police Department for their work along with the support of the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office paramedics and the Michigan State Police.
