A Rhode Island man whose remarkable survival at birth was officially recognized as a miracle by Pope Leo XIV has been arrested in Virginia in connection with a double shooting.
Tyquan Johnson, 19, was captured Wednesday morning at a residence in Newport News, Virginia, by members of the U.S. Marshals Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force.
Johnson was wanted on charges of felony assault with a firearm and discharging a firearm in a compact area following a July 19 shooting in Newport’s Park Holm neighborhood, according to the Newport RI Police Department.
Two men, ages 22 and 25, were found with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds to their lower extremities. Both were treated and released. Investigators identified Johnson as a suspect; he fled the state. A second individual remains wanted for questioning. Police described both as armed and dangerous.
Investigators obtained an arrest warrant for Johnson on July 23 and warned that he should be considered armed and dangerous. Authorities believed he had fled Rhode Island for Virginia and contacted the Rhode Island Violent Fugitive Task Force.
Johnson was ultimately tracked to a residence on Chestnut Avenue in Newport News and taken into custody approximately ten days after the shooting, according to local reports.
The arrest warrant listing Johnson’s name, January 14, 2007 date of birth, and last known Virginia address immediately raised eyebrows.
Those details matched the young man whose premature birth at the former Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket had been investigated for years and ultimately approved as a miracle by Pope Leo XIV in June 2025.
Born via emergency cesarean after his mother’s complications, the newborn showed no detectable heartbeat and no improvement after roughly 65 minutes of resuscitation efforts.
Doctors expected catastrophic neurological damage or death. The attending physician, a Spanish native, prayed for the intercession of 19th-century Spanish priest Salvador Valera Parra. Moments later, the infant’s heart restarted without further medical intervention.
He recovered fully, speaking at 18 months and walking at age 2 with no apparent lasting effects from the prolonged oxygen deprivation.
The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints reviewed the case extensively. Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born pope, approved the miracle, advancing Valera Parra’s cause toward sainthood.
The Diocese of Providence called it a powerful reminder of the efficacy of prayer. Johnson himself, interviewed last year after the declaration, said the recognition strengthened his faith and that he felt destined for a second chance at life. He had expressed interest in “paying it forward” and possibly joining the military.
Less than a year later, that same young man is facing serious gun charges after allegedly opening fire on two people in Newport and fleeing across state lines.
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