Prisoner Kills Cellmate At NJ Facility: DOJ

FAIRTON, NJ — A 39-year-old being held at the Federal Correctional Institution in Fairton killed his cellmate, the United States Department of Justice said.

William Vontrail Johnson, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, made his initial court appearance on Thursday after being charged with murder in the 2025 slaying.

On March 4, prison employees found a man who was unresponsive and lying in a pool of blood. He was not breathing and had no pulse.

After lifesaving tactics were performed by responders at the scene, he was taken to the hospital. The man died the next day.

An autopsy led a forensic pathologist to declare his cause of death as puncture wounds to the head, neck, and chest during a homicide.

Federal officials interviewed Johnson, who told them he first tried to choke the man to death and believed he had succeeded.

After he let him go, the man started to breathe again. This prompted Johnson to act where he "tried to kill him in all kinds of ways," he told authorities.

This included using a pencil to stab the man in the eye.

Johnson, who was already serving time for child sex trafficking at the time of the attack, faces a maximum of life in jail and a fine of up to $250,000.

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