A Charlotte man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Tuesday after a jury found him guilty in the 2007 fatal shooting of Anita Jean Rychlik at a North Tryon Street motel.
Bobby Johnson, 41, and two men who already pleaded guilty in the case were arrested in 2011 after DNA evidence linked Johnson to the shooting at the Thrift Motel, according to the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office.
In the early morning hours of May 2, 2007, Johnson went to the motel with Antonio Chaney and Joshua Chaney to commit a robbery, prosecutors said.
Witnesses told police they saw three suspects approached the hotel’s security guard, later identified as Rychlik’s husband. The suspects pistol whip the man then forced him into a room he shared with his wife. A gunshot and struggle were heard a short time later before witnesses saw the suspects run from the scene.
When police arrived, they found Anita Jean Rychlik dead. She was 49 years old.
The Chaneys, who will be sentenced later, testified at Johnson’s trial.
