MCLOUTH, Kan. — A three-judge panel in Costa Rica has convicted a hotel security guard of manslaughter in the June, 2011, shooting death of McLouth High School student Justin Johnston.
Johnston, 15, was on a student field trip to Costa Rica when he was shot and killed by security guard Jorge Guevara, who claimed that he thought Johnston and a friend were thieves. The three-judge panel sentenced Guevara to 15 years in prison and ruled that the hotel that employed him was negligent and ordered it to pay Johnston’s parents $646,000.
Johnston’s parents say their son and another boy were walking from a friend’s room back to their own when Guevara shot him once in the heart from about 15 feet away.
“There was a curfew, and so they just wanted to avoid being seen,” said father John Johnson. “Guevara’s account was a warning shot, so they did an exhaustive search of the hotel grounds for a second shell casing and none was found.”
“He repeatedly said he thought they were thieves,” said Johnson.
The Johnston family says that the hotel should have never hired Guevara — an illegal immigrant in Costa Rica from Nicaragua.
“No security guard training, no license for firearms nor guns, and they asked him to perform a duty that he was clearly unqualified for,” said Johnson.
The Johnstons, who flew to Costa Rica for the trial and hired their own attorney to assist the prosecution, says that they are happy with the verdict and the sentence — but they add that they haven’t seen any of the $646,000 judgment against the hotel and because of appeals they might never it at all.
