Naman Shrestha
When Johnny Clark Soekhis was discovered dead in Mobile, Alabama, shockwaves were sent across the entire community. As the authorities jumped on the case and the detectives tried their best to get to the bottom of the case, they managed to get a solid lead from surveillance footage. It ultimately led them straight to the perpetrator, who had dark secrets of his own. In the episode titled ‘Cul-De-Sac’ of Investigation Discovery’s ‘See No Evil,’ the focus is on the tragic murder and the investigation that ensued. It also features insightful interviews with people connected to the case, including victims’ loved ones and officials.
Johnny Soekhies Was Found Dead a Few Miles Away From His Residence
Born on December 5, 1960, Johnny Clark Soekhies was a reputed member of the community. While he kept the details about the professional and personal aspects of his life under wraps, we know that he was the son of Alfonsus Johandass Soekhie and Dolores Contreras. He had grown up alongside the four siblings — sisters, Enuy Soekhie and Gloria Wilson, and brothers, Lamberto Soekhie and Willy Escalona. Johnny seemingly led a simple life that he had built with hard work and determination. From what we can tell, he mostly kept to himself but never hesitated to help someone in need.
His generous and kind personality earned him the company of loving people who adored his presence and cared about him. In the year 2019, the 58-year-old Alabama resident was looking forward to someone who understood him and loved him for who he is. Thus, he stepped into the world of dating. On October 24, 2019, Johnny took off from his residence to have a great time with an individual he met on the dating app Grindr, and was quite excited to meet. What Johnny or his loved ones could never have imagined was that a wonderful night he was hoping for would soon turn into a tragedy that would result in his death.
On the afternoon of October 25, Johnny was found dead on Oyler Road and Jeff Hamilton Road in Mobile County, just about 5 miles from his home. In particular, his remains were found in an abandoned state in an “undeveloped area” on the road. Around 12 hours had passed since he was last seen alive. Johnny suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head. The police believed he was shot sometime between 3 and 4 am in the morning, just around 30 minutes from the time he left home. According to reports, the markings found on his body indicated that Johnny fought his attacker to save himself, shining light on the fact that he was a fighter until his last breath.
The Killer of Johnny Soekhies Used a Dating App to Lure His Victims
As part of the investigation, the authorities looked into the surveillance footage of the area that led them to a man named Sabronte Lashun Rhodes, who was spotted withdrawing money from an ATM around 3 am on the night of the murder. Next, he was deemed a person of interest, and the detectives brought him in for questioning. During the interview, Sabronte admitted that he knew Johnny Soekhies and was with him before his death, but he claimed that he had nothing to do with the crime. He told the investigators that he sold methamphetamine on the dating application, Grindr. Moreover, he tried to blame another individual for murdering Johnny. However, upon searching Sabronte’s vehicle, the detectives found DNA evidence of Johnny, implicating him in the crime.
On top of that, when they went over the suspect’s cell phone records, the data connected him to the scene of the crime. According to the investigators, Sabronte met Johnny on Grindr and arranged a date with him in order to rob him, but when things got out of hand, he shot him in the head and disposed of the remains off Oyler Road in Mobile, Alabama. As they dug deeper into Sabronte’s past, they found out about his lengthy rap sheet, with crimes dating back to 1998. The authorities concluded that he used Grindr to target the gay community and lure other men into meeting him for ulterior motives. Mason Cooley, another one of Sabronte’s victims, talked about his experience with Sabronte, whom he knew by the nickname of Dre. Mason told WKRG that he “put on a lot of vibes that he wanted a relationship.”
In the span of a month, Sabronte had asked him about the location and functionality of the security cameras at his house. When Mason went out of town, the security camera captured Sabronte breaking into his house through the back window. He reportedly stole two televisions from the property. A few days after that, the authorities managed to apprehend them. In the same month as the murder, Sabronte was taken into custody at a strip mall on Old Pascagoula Road near Carol Plantation Road in the Tillman’s Corner area. At the time, he was inside an adult store with another man he had met on Grindr. Besides the murder charge, Sabronte also ended up facing other charges while in custody, including 2nd degree assault, promoting prison contraband, breaking and entering, and attempting to elude police.
Sabronte Rhodes is Currently Incarcerated at an Alabama Prison Facility
In February 2020, Sabronte Rhodes’ preliminary hearing took place, during which it was learned that the gun he used to shoot Johnny Soekhies to death was used in another shooting a few days later. More than three years later, he stood trial for the murder. The prosecution focused on proving the defendant’s guilt by presenting incriminating evidence to the jury. Meanwhile, the defense argued that the accused was not involved in the killing. After hearing both sides of the coin, the jury reached a verdict on May 19, 2023, and convicted Sabronte Rhodes of Johnny’s murder.
More than a month later, on June 27, the convict was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In addition, on July 13, 2023, he was further sentenced to serve 15 years in prison for each of his class C felonies, including unlawful breaking and entering a vehicle, promoting prison contraband, and three counts of burglary. In the following months, he and his defense counsel filed an appeal to get his conviction overturned. However, in September 2024, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the conviction for murder. As of today, Sabronte Rhodes is serving his sentence at William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer, Alabama.
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