Nantz enters guilty plea to federal murder charge in 2019 fatal shooting

Daniel Nantz entered a guilty plea to a federal murder charge Thursday afternoon, which marked the four-year anniversary of the day Geri D. Johnson was shot multiple times before being dumped out at Baptist Health Corbin and left for dead.

Nantz appeared in U.S. District Court in London last week to enter the plea as part of an agreement with prosecutors. 

He originally faced additional charges of kidnapping, two counts of conspiracy to distribute 500 or more grams of a mixture containing methamphetamine, possession of a firearm in the furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Those charges will be dismissed, per the agreement.

According to information provided by U.S. District Attorney Jenna Reed during Thursday’s proceedings, the agreement was drafted and proposed by Nantz’s defense team. Prosecutors had not extended any type of plea offer in the case.

According to information in Nantz’s agreement, he was engaged in methamphetamine trafficking throughout Whitley County from March 2017 through March 2019 and several of the sources Nantz worked with were indicted by a federal grand jury, including Johnson.

On March 13, 2019, just days before Johnson’s death, Nantz sent Johnson a text that read “I’ll kill you [expletive],” according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The following day, Nantz texted Johnson, “Your (sic) very dangerous for me. Very very dangerous,” the release states.

As part of his plea, Nantz conceded that he killed Johnson with “malice, forethought and premeditation” and that he had done so in order to keep her from sharing information with federal authorities about Nantz’s drug operation

“She said she was going to turn herself in,” said Nantz, when questioned Thursday about whether he had concerns regarding Johnson’s cooperation with federal authorities prior to fatally shooting her.

“Did you kill her to prevent her from speaking with federal agents about the methamphetamine conspiracy you  had been a part of?” asked U.S. District Judge Robert E. Wier.

“Yes,” replied Nantz.

On March 16, 2019, Nantz fatally shot Johnson, who was pregnant at the time, and then drove her to Baptist Health Corbin where he dropped her at the ambulance bay. Johnson was pronounced dead at Baptist Health Corbin. Her baby was successfully delivered but later died.

Nantz told 911 dispatchers and Kentucky State Police that Johnson had committed suicide. Multiple witnesses also reported seeing Nantz’s pickup truck traveling up the road near his home following the shooting, with Nantz yelling, “She shot herself!” as the vehicle passed.

An autopsy indicated that Johnson had been shot in the back near the shoulder area, and a second time in the neck.

Police recovered a weapon—a .38–caliber revolver—out of the pickup truck in which Nantz had used to transport Johnson from his residence in Woodbine to the hospital.

Nantz was indicted in connection to Johnson’s death in July 2019.

Wier accepted Nantz’s plea and set a formal sentencing date for July 17 at 10:30 a.m.

Nantz faces a mandatory life sentence without any opportunity of parole.

Nantz had been facing the death penalty since prosecutors filed their intent to seek it in the case in May 2020. However, that was taken off the table in Dec. 2022 after his defense team was able to effectively petition the Office of the Attorney General for a deauthorization request. Prosecutors then soon withdrew the intent.