After 17 Police Bullets Killed This N.C. Mom, a Judge Has Dismissed Her Family’s Case

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December 4, 2025

By Christina Carrega, CapitalB

Within 30 minutes, Jada Elizabeth Johnson was shot and killed by a Fayetteville officer.

Jada Elizabeth Johnson, a Black woman in glasses, looking at camera — The family of Jada Elizabeth Johnson is weighing its options after a judge dismissed a wrongful-death lawsuit filed against the Fayetteville, North Carolina, police officer who killed her in 2022. (Courtesy of Rick Iwanski)

Jada Elizabeth Johnson’s daughter is excelling in kindergarten, absorbing lessons like a sponge and earning high marks that remind her family of Jada. But she still has hard moments, her great-grandfather Rick Iwanski said. The 6-year-old has anxiety, especially at bedtime, when dreams sometimes turn into nightmares of July 1, 2022, when she watched a police officer fire 17 bullets, killing her mom.

Days before Thanksgiving last week, Johnson’s family faced another legal blow when a federal judge dismissed their lawsuit alleging excessive force, wrongful death, and emotional distress. Johnson, 22, was killed in her grandfather’s living room by Fayetteville, North Carolina, officer Zacharius Borom more than three years ago, and prosecutors never brought charges. Her death highlights the persistent risks Black communities face when mental health crises intersect with policing.

This disgusted Iwanski, he said in a phone interview with Capital B on Tuesday, after U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle’s dismissal of the lawsuit on Nov. 25, ruling that Borom was protected by qualified immunity. The doctrine shields law enforcement officers from personal liability for misconduct while on duty, meaning Borom and other responding officers cannot be held legally at fault for what Boyle described as the “split-second judgments” that led to Johnson’s death.

“I’m pissed, but resolved to get this done,” Iwanski said in response to Boyle’s decision. He plans to meet with his attorneys on Friday to figure out their next steps. He does have an option to refile the lawsuit that challenged whether all law enforcement officers involved handled Johnson’s case properly, according to the judge’s decision.

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