Suspect says he did not shoot Francis
by Jill Painter
Published: May 20, 2006

A man accused in the shooting death of USC basketball player Ryan Francis says police have arrested the wrong person, his defense attorney says.

DeAnthony Ford, 19, is being held without bond in the May 13 shooting of Francis, who was a USC point guard. The shooting occurred at an intersection about 3 a.m. in Baton Rouge, La.

Ford's attorney, Dele Adebamiji, said Friday that he talked to his client and that Ford claimed his innocence.

"He said they got the wrong guy and he's ready to prove they got the wrong guy," Adebamiji said. "He said he wasn't at the scene at all when all of this happened."

In an affidavit, police contend that two of the three people riding in the car with Francis viewed a police lineup and identified Ford as the man who fired the fatal shots. Francis was riding in the back seat of the car when he was killed.

Mike Johnson has returned to the Cal State Northridge men's basketball team as an assistant coach. Johnson was an assistant coach at CSUN for nine years before assistant jobs at UC Irvine and USC. He was an assistant under coach Bobby Braswell for five years.

Former CSUN assistants Joel Sobotka and Danny Sprinkle left for other jobs and graduate assistant Mike Scott will not return.

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