A Rhode Island man, Tyquan Johnson, 19, who gained notoriety when his birth was declared a miracle by Pope Leo XIV, has been arrested in connection with a double shooting. Johnson was apprehended Wednesday morning by the US Marshals fugitive task force at an apartment in Virginia, the Newport Police Department announced.
Johnson is accused of shooting two individuals in Newport, Rhode Island, on July 19. He allegedly fled to Virginia following the incident, prompting officials to issue an arrest warrant. Both victims sustained non-life-threatening injuries, according to police. Authorities are also seeking a second individual for questioning in connection with the shooting but have not yet identified this person. Johnson faces charges of felony assault with a firearm and firing in a compact area.
The arrest occurred approximately one year after Pope Leo XIV declared Johnson's 2007 birth the first miracle of his papacy and the first ever recognized miracle in Rhode Island. This connection became apparent when law enforcement released Johnson's arrest warrant, which included his name and date of birth matching the individual recognized by the Pope in July 2025.
Johnson was born prematurely on January 14, 2007, at the former Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island in Pawtucket. According to the Diocese of Providence, the infant suffered from oxygen deprivation and other symptoms for over 65 minutes, leaving medical professionals with little hope for his survival. The attending physician, Dr. Juan Sanchez-Esteban, reportedly prayed for the intervention of 19th-century Spanish priest Valera Parra. At that moment, a nurse informed the doctor that the child had suddenly recovered and his heart had started beating without medical intervention.
Dr. Sanchez-Esteban, who hails from the same Spanish region as Parra, noted that the child, who should have suffered permanent brain damage due to the lack of oxygen, instead experienced no complications. The investigation into this alleged miracle began more than a decade ago when a bishop from Parra's native Spain sent investigators to Rhode Island in 2014, according to Father Timothy Reilly, Chancellor of the Diocese of Providence. The Diocese of Providence announced on July 18, 2025, that Pope Leo XIV had declared Johnson's recovery a miracle. Father Reilly highlighted that Parra, who lived from 1816 to 1889, never traveled to the U.S., adding significance to the doctor's invocation of his name for help in the 2007 incident.