OGDEN — A four-day jury trial has been scheduled to begin July 22 for a 49-year-old Roy man accused of killing a neighbor and dumping his body in an Ogden parking lot.

Judge Jennifer Valencia scheduled the trial in a Jan. 5 hearing for Daniel Lee Johnson, who is charged with first-degree murder in the April 10 death of Steven Robert Bailey, 38.

Charging documents in 2nd District Court allege that Johnson shot Bailey with a .45 caliber pistol in a Roy mobile home park, packed his body into the victim’s car and drove the car to abandon it in a central Ogden church parking lot. Bailey’s decomposing body was found three days later.

Johnson also is charged with second-degree felony obstruction of justice and third-degree felony charges of abuse or desecration of a human body and use of a firearm by a restricted person.

In a preliminary hearing last July, an Ogden police detective testified that Johnson initially denied any knowledge of the shooting. But when police asked him about apparent inconsistencies, Johnson admitted that Bailey had come to his home and wanted to talk about a dispute over gambling winnings. Johnson told police Bailey was acting aggressively, so he pointed a gun “just to scare” him. Johnson said Bailey shut the door on his arm and the gun went off accidentally.

The detective said evidence gathered by crime scene investigators contradicted Johnson’s report of an accidental shooting. He said they found a bullet hole through the screen door at eye level and that evidence indicated the shot was fired 3 feet away from Bailey. Bailey was shot through the eye.

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