William Lamarr Johnson, called Mark by family and friends, was the father of Marcell Johnson and the first love of actress Taraji P. Henson. He was born on January 24, 1969, and died on January 25, 2003, one day after his 34th birthday, following a fight at an apartment in Northeast Washington, D.C.
Most people find his name through Henson, who has spoken about him in interviews and on her Facebook Watch series. He was never a public figure, and the written record of his life is small. This article sticks to what an obituary, a grave record, and news coverage can support, and it says clearly where reports disagree.
Quick Facts About William Lamarr Johnson
- Full name: William LaMarr Johnson, also called Mark and MJ
- Born: January 24, 1969
- Died: January 25, 2003, at age 34
- Buried: Maryland National Memorial Park, Laurel, Maryland
- Known for: Father of Marcell Johnson and former partner of Taraji P. Henson
- Net worth: Not publicly documented
- Spelling note: Reports use LaMarr, Lamarr, and Lamar
Early Life and Who Knew Him
Public records say little about his childhood. His obituary and Find a Grave memorial give his birth date and list the relatives who survived him, including his mother, two grandmothers, and two aunts. Neither says where he grew up or how he spent his twenties. The two record dates also show that he died the day after his 34th birthday, a detail the coverage never mentions.
The obituary gives his name as William LaMarr “Mark/MJ” Johnson. Guest book messages posted in January 2003 add a few details. One writer said they attended Archbishop Carroll High School with him. Another worked in the same downtown building on 14th Street and remembered waiting for rides home with him every evening, calling him a good listener.
These are personal memories, not verified biography, but they are the closest thing to a first-hand description of his character. Other writers called him a dear friend and said he felt like a brother.
Taraji P. Henson and the Birth of Marcell
Henson has described Johnson as her first love and, in her words, “my one bad boy,” according to a profile on I Love Old School Music. Their son, Marcell, was born in 1994, while Henson was a student at Howard University. Howard’s alumni profile says she worked two jobs to support herself and her newborn son, and she graduated in 1995 before moving to Los Angeles.
That timeline fits a birth in her final years of college, though outlets disagree on whether she was a junior or a senior at the time.
Henson has also said she mourned Johnson and wished her son still had his father, according to EURweb. By 2003 the two were no longer together.
A handful of sites say the couple split because of abuse by Johnson. That claim appears on lower-quality pages, and none traces it to Henson’s own words or to a court record. It is not repeated here as fact.
What can be said is narrower. They were together long enough to have a child, and the relationship had ended before his death. Most pages call them high school sweethearts, while one says they began dating at Howard.
Family and Fatherhood
The obituary lists five children, three stepdaughters, and a long-time companion among the people who mourned him. Marcell is the only child discussed in public coverage, so the others are not named here.
Marcell was nine when his father died. He has since modeled and made guest appearances on Empire, according to Amomama and I Love Old School Music.
Johnson is buried at Maryland National Memorial Park in Laurel, Maryland, according to Find a Grave. The memorial lists his mother, two grandmothers, and two aunts among his survivors.
What Happened in January 2003
1. The Confrontation
According to The Washington Post, as summarized by several entertainment sites, Johnson went to the apartment of Russell and Charlotte Nickelson to confront Charlotte over an incident in which a friend’s tires were slashed. A fight followed. Russell reportedly knocked him down with a ceramic lamp and kicked and punched him, and Charlotte stabbed him.
Police found him semiconscious, and he died roughly an hour later. Neither the obituary nor the grave record describes how he died, so every detail of the fight comes secondhand from news coverage.
2. Charges, Plea, and Sentences
Both Nickelsons were charged with first-degree murder while armed. Entertainment Now, citing Star magazine, reports they pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter the following year. Russell received 50 months in prison. Charlotte’s sentence is reported as 30 months by EURweb and 36 months by Entertainment Now.
The case file would settle those numbers, and anyone using this article for research should check D.C. court records or the Post’s 2003 coverage directly.
3. What a Manslaughter Plea Means
A guilty plea to voluntary manslaughter is a lesser charge than first-degree murder. Defendants often plead to lesser charges when prosecutors and defense lawyers agree to resolve a case without a trial. The public coverage reviewed here does not explain the reasoning in this case, so readers should not assume more than the plea itself. This is general information, not legal advice.
4. A Note on How This Is Told
Johnson’s death left behind children, a mother, and friends named in his obituary. Retellings of the attack can read like entertainment, which fits poorly with a death that took a father from a nine-year-old. This article keeps the violence to what the reporting establishes and leaves out the rest.
Timeline of Dates
- 1969: Born on January 24
- 1994: Son Marcell is born
- 1995: Henson graduates from Howard University
- January 25, 2003: Johnson dies in Northeast Washington
- 2004: The Nickelsons plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter, according to Entertainment Now
- February 2021: Henson discusses the loss on Peace of Mind with Taraji
Where the Reports Disagree
Because Johnson’s story circulates mostly through entertainment blogs, small errors repeat. Three are worth sorting out.
The Date of Death
His obituary, posted on Legacy.com on January 29, 2003, says he died on Saturday, January 25, 2003, and Find a Grave agrees. Other pages give January 26 or January 23. Several give June 25, which cannot be right because the obituary was already online in January.
The Sentences
The 30, 36, and 50-month figures above come from secondhand summaries. Another site rounds them to three and four years, which fits the 36-month figure but not the 30-month one.
The Spelling of His Name
The obituary and Find a Grave spell it LaMarr. Some articles write Lamar or Lamarr. All refer to the same man, and search results mix the spellings freely.
Which Sources Support Which Claims
Each claim below is sorted by how well the public record backs it.
| Claim | Source | Status |
| Born January 24, 1969, died January 25, 2003 | Find a Grave, Legacy.com obituary | Confirmed by records |
| Father of Marcell Johnson | Henson’s interviews, many outlets | Widely reported |
| Charged with first-degree murder while armed | The Washington Post, via secondary sites | Widely reported |
| Pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter | Entertainment Now, citing Star | Reported by few sources |
| Length of sentences | EURweb, Entertainment Now | Disputed |
| Net worth | None | Unverified |
How to Check the Details Yourself
The Washington Post’s 2003 reporting is the original news source that most entertainment pages cite, so it is the first place to look. Court records from the case would settle the sentence lengths and the plea date. Find a Grave and the Legacy.com obituary are the only record-style sources used here for his birth and death dates. Readers should be cautious with any page that gives different dates.
Henson’s Career Around the Time of His Death
When Johnson died, Henson was about two years past her breakthrough in Baby Boy (2001) and still building a career. Britannica notes that she made her big-screen debut in 1998 and moved to Los Angeles after graduating from Howard in 1995 with her infant son.
Wider recognition came later: Hustle & Flow in 2005, an Oscar nomination for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in 2008, and a Golden Globe in 2016 for playing Cookie Lyon on Empire, according to Britannica. Howard University adds that she founded the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation in 2018 to challenge how mental illness is viewed in the African American community.
The interviews cited here came during that later period of fame. That timing explains why most coverage reads as celebrity news about Henson rather than a profile of Johnson himself.
How Henson Told Her Son
In February 2021, Henson spoke on her Facebook Watch series, Peace of Mind with Taraji, about the hardest part of the aftermath. She told Marcell his father had died in an accident because she could not bring herself to explain a killing to a nine-year-old.
Marcell learned the truth as he grew older, according to Buzz South Africa and Amomama. Neither says exactly when or how the conversation happened.
Henson has called the decision a hard one. She was early in her acting career and raising Marcell as a single mother when she had to decide what to say, and she has said the words would not come out when she tried to explain. Anyone facing a similar decision with a child is better served by a pediatrician or grief counselor than by a celebrity interview.
Career and Net Worth
No reliable source documents Johnson’s career or finances. The guest book places him in a downtown building on 14th Street, but it does not name an employer or job title.
Net worth pages that list a figure for him have no sourcing, and this article does not repeat one. Estimates of this kind rely on public filings, salaries, and business records, and the sources reviewed show no film credits, sports contracts, or company filings for him.
What the Public Record Cannot Tell Us
Several basic questions have no sourced answer. Where Johnson grew up, what work he did, how he and Henson first met, and what the funeral was like are not documented in any source reviewed for this article.
Pages that fill those gaps usually repeat each other, and a claim that appears on ten sites can still trace back to a single unsourced post. For a private person, an honest gap is better than a confident guess.
Why His Story Is Still Searched
Johnson’s name reaches search engines because of the people around him. Henson’s fame brings readers to the story of her first love, and Marcell’s visibility brings readers to the story of his father.
Results for his name mix obituary pages, true-crime summaries, and celebrity relationship explainers. They answer different questions, which is why the same man appears with different dates and details depending on the page.
The most reliable thing that can be said about his legacy is also the most personal. The guest book messages were posted on January 29 and 30, 2003, within days of his death, which makes them the earliest public record of how people felt. Friends wrote that they would miss him, that his children survive him, and that his son has grown up with a mother who talks about him openly.
Coverage of the case also shows a gap that readers may notice. Most pages focus on the manner of his death and on Henson. Much less is written about who he was before January 2003, and only the people who knew him can fill in that part of the record.