🔫 Okaloosa County Corrections Sergeant Curtis Johnson was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of his roommate and fellow officer, Barbara Dedert.
📞 Authorities say Johnson called 911 to report a suicide but made conflicting and incriminating statements during the call.
🧾 Investigators found six bullet wounds, multiple shell casings, and contradictory statements from Johnson, who has since been fired and pleaded not guilty.
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office arrested an Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputy and charged him with the murder of his partner after he allegedly called in the killing as a suicide.
Deputies arrested Corrections Sergeant Curtis Johnson of Milton in the wake of the apparent shooting death of Barbara Dedert. He’s in the Santa Rosa County Jail, charged with second-degree murder and lying to law enforcement.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Mid Bay News, Johnson called into Santa Rosa County Dispatch to report a suicide on August 1.
When they arrived, deputies say they found Johnson “laying [sic] on the ground in front of the residence. He was laying [sic] on his stomach with his hands behind his back and was begging them to place him in handcuffs.”
Deputies then reported that they entered the home to check on Dedert – she was pronounced dead on the scene at 9:02 in the morning. They inspected the body and found that she had a gunshot wound to the back of her shoulder, and found a firearm inside the bedroom.
Deputies contacted the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Major Crimes and Crime Scene units to attend the scene.
The deputy writing the arrest affidavit reported that he then listened to the 911 call Johnson made to dispatch.
In the call, Johnson allegedly told the dispatcher he would be outside in the “position he needs to be” and initially refused to give his name.
He then told the dispatcher he and the victim of the shooting were both law enforcement.
He then told the dispatcher that the victim was “a dumb-ass and I told her to go” – before telling the dispatcher that she was dead when he left the house, and was “probably” still dead because “she was before,” he called.
He made several more statements, including that “she brought it on herself,” according to deputies who listened to the 911 tape, who say he also used several aliases for himself on the call.
Deputies arrived on the scene while he was still on the line with 911. According to law enforcement,- he “begged” deputies on scene to handcuff him and that he was sorry.
Deputies arrived on the scene and detained Johnson.
In handcuffs, deputies say Johnson began to talk about his two decades in law enforcement, that he knew a lot of martial arts, and that he taught defensive tactics at the Corrections Academy. Johnson is a certified corrections officer but is not an accredited law enforcement officer.
Johnson told law enforcement, according to the affidavit, that he was roommates with the victim and that they had gotten into an argument about finances. Specifically, he accused Dedert of not paying her share of the rent.
During the investigation, the officer investigating the situation made note that Johnson stressed that their relationship was platonic.
Johnson says the argument escalated past his comfort level, so he went into his half of the residence and accused Dedert of following him to argue more.
Johnson says Dedert became more aggressive, and he became afraid. He told officers, according to the affidavit, that he couldn’t remember what happened next because of fear and stress. Deputies asked him about anxiety and stress at work, and Johnson said explicitly that he was able to remember what happened there and give accurate and detailed reports about what happened in those situations.
Johnson said Dedert entered his room and “came at him.” He told investigators that he didn’t want to “tussle or wrestle with her or any woman because it would look bad and he was worried that she would call the cops because he beat her up.”
Johnson claimed that Dedert knew he carried multiple knives with him, but said that because of the distance between them, he wasn’t going to use them. “He did what he had to do, so he decided to draw his pistol and shot her. He’s unsure of how many times he shot her, but is sure it was more than twice, but did not empty a full magazine.”
Deputies obtained a search warrant and entered the home on Pinto Avenue to conduct an investigation. When they entered, they found Dedert’s body at the threshold of Johnson’s bedroom and two empty shell casings in the hallway. Deputies found a third casing in a clothes hamper and a fourth behind a laundry machine in the hallway.
In total, investigators found six bullet wounds on the body.
Okaloosa County Command Staff at the Okaloosa County Jail confirmed they had fired Johnson over the weekend.
Johnson had two stints at the County Jail, one from 2000 to 2005 and another from 2016 to 2025. In 2017, he was promoted to sergeant.
Johnson entered a not guilty plea with the court on August 5, according to Santa Rosa County Court Documents. The Public Defender’s Office represents Johnson.
Judge Clifton Drake will hear the case.
Johnson’s case has not had a bond hearing yet – according to court documents, that will take place on August 11.
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