A man accused of killing Frankford barber Edward John “E.J.” Rembert in late 2009 will go on trial Jan. 23.
Randy Johnson, 29, has been in custody since he was brought back from Georgia in April 2010.
During a preliminary hearing in June 2010, a witness identified Johnson as the man who had fatally shot Rembert inside the Mighty Sharp Barber Shop at Glenloch and Bridge streets on Dec. 28, 2009.
Police had said a few days after the shooting that Rembert had died early on Dec. 29 at Hahnemann University Hospital in Center City.
During the 2010 hearing, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Bretschneider had said Rembert had been shot four times, the bullets passing through his body. The victim had been hit in a shoulder, right arm, left arm and right side. Shell casings for 9mm and 10mm handguns were found at the scene, she said.
Police investigating the case obtained a warrant for Johnson’s arrest in mid-March 2010. U.S. marshals took him into custody in Douglas County, Ga., on March 25, 2010. He was brought back to Philadelphia and charged with Rembert’s murder on April 5, 2010.
Johnson remains in custody at the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center on State Road. According to court records, his trial is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 23, before Common Pleas Court Judge Lillian Ransom in Courtroom 807 of the Criminal Justice Center, 13th and Filbert streets. ••
