BLOOMINGTON — A Georgia man was sentenced to 45 years in prison after pleading guilty to murdering 32-year-old Teresa Michael and setting fire to her Bloomington apartment.
Eric Quentin Johnson was arrested in February 2021 after he fled Indiana after setting fire to a Bloomington apartment in an attempt to cover up the murder.
Johnson ultimately pleaded guilty to murder. His murder sentence carries no suspended time.
On March 3, 2021, 30-year-old Eric Johnson arrived back in Indiana from South Carolina, where he was arrested and booked into the Monroe County Jail.
On January 28, 2021, at approximately 9:38 p.m., officers with the Bloomington Police Department (BPD) responded to an apartment building in the 500 block of South Basswood Drive after a report of a fire.
Members of the Bloomington Fire Department quickly extinguished the fire but located an unresponsive female inside the apartment where the fire originated.
The female was identified as Teresa Michael. The Monroe County school employed her as a school bus driver.
On February 1, 2021, the Monroe County coroner ruled Michael’s death a homicide, death from manual strangulation.
Michael and Johnson had been dating for roughly six months before her death. The pair reportedly met online, and Johnson moved up to Bloomington from Georgia to live with Michael and her children.
Those close to the situation told police that Johnson had a history of alcohol abuse, and the relationship turned tumultuous. Court documents reveal that on Jan. 28, 2021 — the day of the fire — Michael advised several family members of her plan to break up with Johnson.
Police were looking for Eric Quentin Johnson, a person of interest in Michael’s death.
Police learned Johnson was known to be in Waycross, Georgia. On February 9, 2021, officers traveled to Georgia in an attempt to locate Johnson and Michael’s stolen 2007 Dodge Caliber.
While investigators were en route to Waycross, they learned Johnson was in transit to South Carolina by bus. The bus was scheduled to stop in Columbia, South Carolina. Bloomington Police contacted the Columbia Police Department and requested that the department respond to that bus stop.
Columbia officers awaited Johnson as he exited the bus, where he was detained. Bloomington Police detectives traveled to South Carolina to interview Johnson.
Johnson was arrested on a charge of vehicle theft, remanded to the Richland County Jail in South Carolina, and was awaiting extradition back to Monroe County.
Investigators in Columbia located Michael’s stolen vehicle just outside Waycross’s city limits.
