A violent home invasion in Memphis ended with one alleged intruder dead after the man being attacked managed to wrestle away a handgun that had been brought into the apartment by one of the attackers and use it during the struggle, according to a case reviewed by gun rights activist and YouTuber Colion Noir.
Noir focused on an Action News 5 report about the incident, which said Devonta Johnson and Zarian Sanders allegedly kicked through an apartment door that had already been barricaded with a couch before entering a bedroom and beating the victim.
What caught Noir’s attention was that the victim apparently did not begin the confrontation armed. Instead, investigators said Johnson produced a handgun during the attack, the victim fought him for control of it, and the struggle eventually spilled outside into a breezeway where Johnson was shot.
The Couch Suggested Trouble Was Already Expected
Noir said one detail in the police affidavit stood out immediately: the apartment door had reportedly been blocked with a couch before the two men arrived.
To him, that suggested the victim already believed trouble was coming and did not trust the locked door alone to keep whoever was outside from getting in.
“A couch,” Noir said, “which tells me the guy inside already knew somebody was coming.”
The barricade did not stop the attack.
Police said Johnson and Sanders kicked their way through the front door anyway, reached the bedroom and began beating the man inside.
Noir argued that once two attackers are already in a bedroom and physically assaulting someone, the situation has moved far beyond a clean or predictable self-defense scenario.
At that point, he said, the victim was simply trying to survive.
Gun Was Allegedly Brought In By One Of The Intruders
According to the affidavit discussed by Noir, Johnson pulled a handgun during the beating.
The victim then fought him for control of it.
The struggle moved from the bedroom into the breezeway outside the apartment before the victim managed to take control of the weapon and shoot Johnson.
Johnson died from his injuries.
Noir said that fact completely changes the way the shooting should be understood because the weapon used by the victim was not something he had brought into the confrontation.
“The gun that ended this fight was brought to the fight by the guy it ended,” Noir said.
His point was that the victim survived not because he entered the situation prepared with his own firearm, but because he managed to take control of a weapon already being used against him.
Noir viewed that as a very narrow escape rather than proof that preparation was unnecessary.
Noir Says The Victim Survived A Desperate Gamble
Noir pushed back against any suggestion that the victim’s success in taking the gun meant he never needed one of his own.
He argued that fighting an armed attacker for control of a firearm is one of the most dangerous positions a person can be in, especially while already being beaten by multiple people.
“He didn’t win because he was armed,” Noir said. “He won because he was desperate and the other guy was sloppy.”
That is an important distinction.
A successful disarm can look simple after the fact because everyone already knows who survived, but during the actual encounter the outcome could have gone the other way within seconds.
Noir said most people forced into that position would not want their entire survival plan to depend on overpowering someone who already has the weapon.
For him, the couch was symbolic of that problem.
Barricading a door may buy time, but it does not guarantee safety once attackers decide to force their way through.
Second Suspect Allegedly Grabbed Another Gun
Police said the violence continued even after Johnson was shot.
According to the report Noir reviewed, Sanders allegedly threatened and struck the victim with a rifle before taking the handgun and fleeing.
Sanders was later arrested.
Noir emphasized that Sanders was already a convicted felon and therefore prohibited from possessing firearms.
Yet investigators said he arrived at the apartment with access to a rifle and then left with the handgun taken from the victim after the shooting.
Noir used that detail to make a broader point about criminal conduct and firearm restrictions, arguing that legal prohibitions do not guarantee that someone willing to commit a violent felony will obey them.
The irony, in his view, was that the person inside the apartment who apparently had the legal ability to possess a firearm was the one who did not have one when the attack began.
Sanders Faces Multiple Felony Charges
According to the case information discussed by Noir, Sanders was charged with especially aggravated burglary, aggravated assault, being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony.
Noir also raised the question of whether Johnson’s death could create additional legal exposure for Sanders.
He noted that Tennessee, like many states, has legal doctrines that can in some circumstances hold participants in dangerous felonies responsible when an accomplice dies during the crime.
Noir did not claim prosecutors had already filed such a homicide charge and made clear that he did not know whether they would.
“At least as of right now,” he said, Sanders had not been charged in Johnson’s death.
That caution matters, because the exact application of felony-murder rules depends on the facts and charging decisions in a particular case.
Shooting Moved Outside The Apartment
Another detail Noir flagged was the location of the fatal shooting.
The fight began inside the apartment but reportedly moved into the breezeway while the victim and Johnson struggled over the gun.
Noir said he expected that fact could receive legal scrutiny because prosecutors and defense attorneys often examine exactly where a shooting occurred and whether the threat was still ongoing.
His interpretation was that the entire encounter should be viewed as one continuous struggle rather than separate events.
“This was one continuous fight over one gun that started in his bedroom and spilled out the door,” Noir said.
From the facts described in the report, the victim was not accused of pursuing a fleeing attacker after the danger had ended. Instead, the shooting allegedly occurred while he was still fighting for possession of the handgun.
A Barricade Bought Time, But Not Safety
Noir returned repeatedly to the couch because he believed it said more about the situation than it first appeared to.
If the victim had already moved furniture against the door, Noir reasoned, he likely understood that there was a serious possibility someone might try to enter.
The barricade may have slowed the attackers, but it did not keep them out.
Once they were inside, the victim was left fighting two men at close range and ultimately depending on a weapon one of them had brought.
Noir argued that the outcome should not be read as a comfortable self-defense success story.
The victim survived, but he did so after the front door failed, the attackers reached his bedroom and one of them allegedly drew a gun during the beating.
That is about as close to losing control of a situation as a person can get while still walking away alive.
The Intruders Allegedly Brought Their Own Defeat
The most unusual part of the case is that the fatal weapon was reportedly introduced by the attackers themselves.
Johnson allegedly brought the handgun into the assault, lost control of it during the struggle and was then shot with it.
Sanders, meanwhile, allegedly continued the attack with a rifle before taking the handgun and leaving.
Noir saw the encounter as a warning about relying on luck once an attacker is already inside a home.
The victim managed to turn the tables, but only after being forced into a fight over someone else’s gun.
For Noir, that is not evidence that the couch was enough.
It is evidence that the couch bought only a little time, while everything that happened afterward depended on the victim winning a struggle he could easily have lost.
Ed spent his childhood in the backwoods of Maine, where harsh winters taught him the value of survival skills. With a background in bushcraft and off-grid living, Ed has honed his expertise in fire-making, hunting, and wild foraging. He writes from personal experience, sharing practical tips and hands-on techniques to thrive in any outdoor environment. Whether it’s primitive camping or full-scale survival, Ed’s advice is grounded in real-life challenges.
