What started as a few shoves in a College Station bar ended as the death
of a twenty-two-year-old basketball player from Rice University and the
stabbing of his twin brother.
Ronald Johnson of College Station and Michael Fuller were both Marines
who had returned from Iraq shortly after the incident, which took place in
April of 2007. Both men admitted to pulling out pocket knives in the middle of
the scuffle; Johnson acknowledges that his made contact with a person or
people, while Fuller did not believe that he was responsible for any injuries.
The incident began in the V Bar in College Station, TX, when the
aforementioned twin brothers were celebrating their birthday. An intoxicated
Janson Bailey was touching and irritating Fuller, who then shoved and punched
him. All four men were asked to leave the bar, but the fight did not stop
there.
There were several fights between the two pairs of men in various
locations, which finally culminated in both twin brothers being stabbed. At
1:46 a.m., there was a report of aggravated assault, and notice that someone
had been stabbed. When the police arrived, they found Jonathan Bailey bleeding
on a sidewalk. By this point, both Johnson and Fuller had fled.
According to Marshall
Davis Brown, Fuller's attorney, he had been punched twice while still inside the
bar, and somewhere in the scuffle he had been beaten to the point of a swollen
face. One of the twins also allegedly attempted to take his wallet. It is
believed that Johnson saw his friend being beaten and came to his aid; the
stabbing was a result of self-defense.
Johnson was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, but
found not guilty of the murder.