ITHACA, N.Y. — New York State Police announced the death of 46-year-old Terence L. Johnson, who was discovered in the early morning of Jan. 28 at his apartment with a gunshot wound to the head.
Further details of the incident or evidence gathered were not released by police initially. No suspect description was provided, though police said the investigation is ongoing.
“This is an active investigation and those are all the details we can release at this time,” stated a New York State Police official via email.
News of Johnson’s death has filtered through the Ithaca community in the last week or so. Services have been scheduled for this weekend at Southside Community Center, according to Johnson’s family’s posts on social media. Johnson’s widow said an additional ceremony will be held in the spring.
The Ithaca Voice has not been able to identify additional information explaining the week-long delay in announcing Johnson’s death publicly. Archived police scanner recordings from the day Johnson was found do not shed further light on what prompted the emergency response or the circumstances surrounding his discovery.
Kasiah Johnson, Terence’s widow and the mother of three of his children, said Monday that Johnson “loved his kids to death” and was a “happy, positive person.” She said she has been “numb” since the news began to trickle out a week ago from her family members who live in the area.
She said she was frustrated at the time it took for police to announce the investigation into Johnson’s death and said she has not received any information outside of what was announced Monday by police.
“I have a lot of unanswered questions I’m trying to figure out,” Johnson said. She added that she would be setting up a GoFundMe to support Johnson’s children soon.
Update (5:45 p.m.): The GoFundMe can be found here.
Anyone with information about the investigation should contact the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation at 607-561-7400.
This is a developing story. More details will be published when they are available
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