A suspect in the homicide of Teresa Michael was taken into custody in South Carolina on vehicle theft charges, according to the Bloomington Police Department. A Friday press release said Eric Quentin Johnson, 30, is in a South Carolina jail waiting to be transferred to Monroe County.
Michael, 32, was found strangled to death in an apartment on Jan. 28 after police initially responded to a call about a fire in the apartment.
Monroe County Coroner Joani Shields released a statement Feb. 1 that preliminarily ruled Michael’s cause of death a strangulation and manner of death a homicide, according to the press release.
BPD identified Johnson as a person of interest in Michael’s death, according to the press release. The press release did not state why Johnson was a suspect in the case. Investigators determined Johnson had left Bloomington and was believed to be near Waycross, Georgia. BPD detectives travelled to Waycross on Feb. 9 to locate Johnson and a 2007 Dodge Caliber that Michael had been driving before her death, according to the release.
Investigators discovered Johnson was traveling northbound toward South Carolina on a bus headed for Columbia, South Carolina. BPD contacted the Columbia Police Department, and Johnson was located on the bus and was detained by CPD on Feb. 9, according to the press release.
Johnson was detained in Richland County Jail in South Carolina on charges of vehicle theft, a Level 6 felony. Johnson is waiting to be transferred back to Monroe County, according to the press release.
The investigation into Michael’s death is ongoing, and anyone with information should contact BPD Detective Chris Scott at (812) 349-3382.
