It appears voters in House District 82 will go to the polls in two weeks without detailed information on one candidate’s felony charges.
Terrence Johnson was arrested in February on two counts of second-degree arson for allegedly setting fire to two buildings that housed, or previously housed, two of his businesses. But the preliminary hearing for those charges—at which the state and Johnson would likely present pertinent evidence and provide more details on the crimes and allegations against him—has now been delayed, at Johnson’s request, until after the May 19, Democratic primary.
Johnson is challenging longtime HD82 incumbent Pebblin Warren in the race.
Johnson was originally arrested following the arrest of two other men in connection with fires that occurred at By His Grace Daycare & Learning Center, at 311 South 6th Street in Opelika at 3:23 a.m. on January 13, and at the Children Palace Learning Center a few days later, on January 19. Johnson is a prior lessee of the building that houses Children Palace Learning Center, which he owned until August 2025. He is the current owner of By His Grace Daycare.
The case was originally scheduled for a preliminary hearing, at Johnson’s request, on March 24. However, Johnson, through his attorney, submitted a motion for a continuance. It was granted and the hearing was rescheduled for April 1. But a day prior to that hearing, Johnson submitted a second request for a continuance.
As in the first request, Johnson cited scheduling conflicts for the cause, but in the second request, Johnson specifically asked the court to move the hearing until after May 19—the day of primary elections in Alabama.
While more detailed evidence won’t be presented in open court prior to the primary, an Opelika Police investigator did submit a deposition in the case which lays out some details behind Johnson’s arrest.
According to the deposition, Johnson paid two accomplices—Michael Leon Green, 26, and Dante Kharari Brundidge, 28—$6,000 to set the fires at the establishments and communicated extensively with them before and after the fires were set. Both Green and Brundidge were also arrested on arson charges.
The deposition stated that police obtained surveillance video of both men entering the buildings while carrying a gas can and that cell phone records show extensive communications between all three men around the time of the fires. The deposition also appears to show that one of the men has provided incriminating evidence against Johnson.
The preliminary hearing in Johnson’s case won’t occur until June 18.
