Richland School District's human resources office has opened a personnel investigation into special education teacher Xavier Matthew Johnson, 31, after he was charged with second-degree murder in his mother's death, according to Yahoo News. Johnson worked at three different RSD schools over five years and remains on leave from Sacajawea Elementary.
The district told reporters it cannot answer specific questions about Johnson's prior employment or say whether he showed signs of erratic behavior on the job. Instead, RSD forwarded a general statement about its hiring process rather than addressing the case directly, Yahoo News reported.
What happened Sept. 23
Richland Police said officers were dispatched the morning of Sept. 23 to a report requesting medical and police assistance. Johnson had walked into the Richland Police Department earlier that morning. Officers then found a woman dead inside a unit at Evergreen Ridge Apartments, on the 1700 block of Columbia Park Trail, according to AppleValleyNewsNow.
Police later identified the victim as 60-year-old Kaylea Johnson, the suspect's mother. Investigators said the cause of death was a knife wound, NBC Right Now reported. A judge set bail at $1 million. At a later court appearance, Johnson's defense requested a competency evaluation, known in court shorthand as a "10-77" request, NBC Right Now reported. No date for a competency hearing or next court appearance has been made public.
The school district said it is cooperating with police but can share little because the case is both an active criminal investigation and a personnel matter under review, according to NBC Right Now.
A second hiring-scrutiny episode in two years
This is not the first time RSD's hiring practices have come under scrutiny. In 2024, substitute teacher Elias Huizar, a former Yakima police officer, had worked in Richland classrooms despite a hidden history involving a relationship with a minor. Huizar later shot and killed a district paraeducator on the Wiley Elementary campus, killed a second woman, and died by suicide during the manhunt that followed, NBC Right Now reported at the time. A $50 million claim was later filed against RSD and other agencies on behalf of the slain paraeducator, alleging missed opportunities to intervene before the shooting, according to a separate NBC Right Now report.
Taken together, the two cases raise the same question for parents: what, if anything, would have flagged a risk before a teacher was hired or kept on staff.
Why mental health isn't part of teacher screening
Washington's Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction confirmed that public schools statewide do not conduct mental health screenings of job candidates. OSPI's chief strategy officer told Yahoo News that such screening could run afoul of disability and civil-rights protections. The gap highlighted by Johnson's case isn't unique to Richland; it reflects a statewide policy limit on what districts can ask or test for during hiring.
What's still unknown
Several questions remain open. It's not yet clear what RSD's HR investigation has found, if anything, about Johnson's employment history at his three prior schools, or when that review will conclude. The exact timeline for his competency evaluation and his next court date have not been announced. And it remains unclear whether the Richland School Board plans to discuss policy changes in response to a second high-profile hiring-scrutiny case in roughly two years. Parents seeking updates can watch for statements from the district or coverage from local outlets as the criminal case and the personnel review proceed.
