The Killing of Katara Johnson

In August 2004, 21-year-old Katara Deboise Johnson finished her shift as an assistant manager at Taco Bell in Taylor, Texas, and drove home to her mobile home on North Dolan Street. By the following evening, her grandmother would discover her shot to death inside her bedroom. Her car was missing. Her cell phone was gone. Hours after her death, someone answered her phone and claimed to be Katara before laughter echoed in the background and the call disconnected. Her maroon Mitsubishi Lancer was later found abandoned at the Thorndale Community Pool in neighboring Milam County, miles from her home. No weapon was recovered. No signs of forced entry were reported. More than 50 people were interviewed. Polygraphs were administered. The Texas Rangers and Department of Public Safety assisted. Still, no arrests have been made. In the months that followed, frustration grew. Family members publicly questioned whether enough resources were being devoted to the case. The NAACP launched its own inquiry. Katara’s sister Kenyatta revealed she had been questioned as a possible suspect, something she strongly denied. Police have never publicly named a suspect. Years passed. Her mother died in 2012 without answers. In 2019, the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office took over the investigation. Authorities now believe more than one person may know what happened that night, particularly how Katara’s car ended up in Thorndale. If you have any information about the murder of Katara Debois Johnson, please contact Texas Crime Stoppers at (800) 346-3243. You can support Gone Cold and listen to the show ad-free at Find us at For Gone Cold merch, visit Follow Gone Cold on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, and X. Search @gonecoldpodcast at all or just click Become a supporter of this podcast: .

You can listen to The Killing of Katara Johnson online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The Killing of Katara Johnson is an episode from gone cold podcast - texas true crime by Vincent Strange.

This episode is 21:35 long.

This episode was published on Feb 13, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from gone cold podcast - texas true crime when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.