Brandon Johnson's roommate a no show for John Doe hearing

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- A John Doe hearing into the death of Brandon Johnson reconvened on Monday, March 25th, as there was hope of hearing from Johnson's roommate at the Mental Health Facility where he died. However, that man did not show up for Monday's hearing.

25-year-old Johnson died at the Mental Health Facility in October, after repeatedly asking for help.

Earlier in March, about 40 people testified in the John Doe investigation into Johnson's death.

Johnson said he fell, but doctors determined Johnson's complaint of paralysis was all in his head. Within three days, Johnson was dead -- his back broken in three places and a blood clot that traveled to his heart.

Now, his family wants action.

"I want everyone who came in contact with him who could have possibly helped him prosecuted to the fullest extent," Johnson's godmother, Renee White-Kennedy said.

Johnson's family's attorney had requested Johnson's roommate at the facility testify.

"I was somewhat surprised that the individual was not made available to testify at the John Doe hearing that we heard a couple of weeks ago, and I asked that that be done and indeed it was scheduled," Johnson's family's attorney Jonathan Safran said.

However, the roommate did not show up on Monday, so a detective who interviewed the roommate three days after Johnson's death testified about what he said.

"He reported that the night prior to Brandon Johnson's death Brandon would ask him to periodically call the nurse to request things like water or to adjust him in bed," the detective said.

"And did he tell you if the nurses were responsive to being called?"

"They were," the detective said.

"He stated that he personally observed throughout that night that Brandon was coughing and possibly, I believe he used the term gagging," the detective said.

It turns out the roommate was never officially served with a subpoena. Deputies went to his home, but he wasn't there. They served his father, who said he would give the subpoena to the roommate and believed that he would show up to court. However, he did not.

Eventually, the prosecutor and judge will decide whether felony negligence charges are issued in Johnson's death.