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Matt Sepic

Inmate accused of killing guard now faces first-degree murder charges

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Edward Muhammad Johnson.
Edward Muhammad Johnson. Johnson is accused of using a weapon to attack Officer Joseph Gomm on at the Stillwater state prison.
Minnesota Department of Corrections via AP

An inmate accused of killing a guard at the Stillwater Prison last month is now facing charges of first-degree murder.

A grand jury in Washington County on Tuesday returned an indictment against Edward M. Johnson, 42, on charges of premeditated murder and murder of a prison guard.

Authorities had initially charged him with second-degree murder. Minnesota law requires a grand jury to approve the more serious charges.

Prosecutors say Johnson used a hammer and makeshift knives to attack correctional officer Joseph Gomm on July 18. Gomm was the first prison guard in Minnesota history to be killed in the line of duty.

Johnson is serving a 29-year sentence for the 2002 murder of his girlfriend. He'd been scheduled to go on supervised release in December of 2022.

In Minnesota, first-degree murder carries a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.