Eight Trey Crips Convicted in Informant’s 2008 Murder

Maliek Ramsey, also known as “Squinge,” 36, and Rodney Muschette, also known as “Stitch,” were convicted Friday in the cold-blooded 2008 murder of federal informant Nashwad Johnson, also known as “Nash.” The killing, carried out in retaliation for Johnson’s cooperation with law enforcement, ended with eleven gunshots in an Atlanta woodland—five striking Johnson in the back.

The two members of the Eight Trey Crips, a violent Brooklyn-based street gang, orchestrated the hit hours after their leader was sentenced to 110 months in federal prison for a 2005 Brooklyn shooting Johnson had witnessed. At that sentencing, the gang leader declared his belief that Johnson was a federal informant—a message that rippled through the ranks. Ramsey, then in England, reportedly wept upon hearing the news and blamed himself, according to testimony from the leader’s sister.

On New Year’s Eve 2008, Muschette and Ramsey spoke for 20 minutes to finalize their plan. Ramsey gave the order: eliminate Johnson. The following night, Muschette and accomplices drove Johnson from Raleigh, North Carolina, to a remote stretch off an Atlanta highway. There, under cover of darkness, Muschette opened fire, executing Johnson in a brutal display of gang loyalty and retribution.

U.S. Attorney Robert L. Capers, Eastern District of New York, condemned the act as a direct assault on justice. “The defendants’ actions tore at the fabric of our criminal justice system,” Capers stated. “Without the cooperation of the community—including victims, eyewitnesses, and cooperating witnesses—our system cannot work.” He thanked FBI field offices in Charlotte, Raleigh, Atlanta, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Eastern North Carolina for critical support.

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney, Jr. emphasized that witness intimidation ends in prosecution. “We depend on eyewitnesses for the information that isn’t revealed from forensic evidence,” Sweeney said. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners will pursue anyone who threatens witnesses with violence because they were willing to come forward.”

Atlanta Police Chief George N. Turner confirmed Muschette and Ramsey’s actions have consequences. “Muschette and Ramsey mercilessly took the life of Mr. Nashwad Johnson and those actions will not go unpunished,” Turner said. Both defendants now face mandatory life imprisonment. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth A. Geddes and Patrick T. Hein of the Organized Crime and Gangs Section.