Man Charged in 2019 Downtown Pasadena Stabbing Death Due Back in Court Wednesday

A Los Angeles man charged with the stabbing death of a supportive housing manager in downtown Pasadena nearly seven years ago is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday for a pretrial hearing. 

Telly R. Johnson, who has pleaded not guilty, faces a murder charge and knife use allegation in the killing of Byron Young Nettles, 52, a Pasadena resident who managed the Euclid Villa Transition Housing in the 100 block of South Euclid Avenue. The hearing is set for 8:30 a.m. in Department F of the Pasadena Courthouse, 300 E. Walnut St. 

Nettles was stabbed in the face and chest outside the apartment building he managed on the morning of March 1, 2019, according to the Pasadena Police Department. Paramedics transported him to a hospital in critical condition. He underwent emergency surgery but died at 3:52 p.m. from stab wounds to the chest, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner. 

The killing set off an hours-long manhunt in a densely populated stretch of downtown Pasadena. Police deployed helicopters and K-9 units and searched a zone bounded by Green Street and California Boulevard, from Los Robles Avenue to Marengo Avenue, according to the Pasadena Star-News. Mayfield Junior School at 405 S. Euclid Ave. was placed on lockdown and nearby residents were told to shelter in place until about 2:30 p.m. 

Johnson, who was 41 at the time, allegedly fled on foot after the attack. The U.S. Marshal’s Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force located him that evening, and he was apprehended without incident around 9:26 p.m. in the 1900 block of Cordova Street in Los Angeles, according to a Pasadena Police Department press release. 

Investigators allege Johnson confronted Nettles over a perceived relationship between the victim and Johnson’s longtime girlfriend, according to Pasadena Police Lt. Jesse Carrillo. Witness Elizabeth Jacobs described the encounter to KCAL9. “They were talking about the guy’s wife and he said,’I can’t help her, she’s a drug addict. I don’t have the power to help her,'” Jacobs said. 

Nettles managed the Euclid Villa Transition Housing, a 14-unit apartment complex that offers housing for families moving out of homelessness, according to the Pasadena Weekly. He lived at the building where he was killed.

“He was just so helpful to everybody,” Nettles’ wife, T-Shawn Demethris, told KCAL9 after his death. 

Johnson was charged with murder on March 6, 2019, and pleaded not guilty on March 13, 2019, according to court records. A judge ordered him to stand trial in July 2020. He has been held on $2 million bail. 

If convicted, Johnson faces a possible maximum sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. He is presumed innocent until proven guilty. 

Anyone with information about the case can call Pasadena police at (626) 744-6477. Anonymous tips may be submitted to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477. 

The case has been in the court system since Johnson’s arrest nearly seven years ago, with multiple pretrial hearings scheduled over the years.