Man Who Pope Leo Declared A “Miracle” Arrested In Double Shooting

Talk about a fall from grace.

A man who was once declared a “miracle” by Pope Leo has now been arrested in a double shooting.

Tyquan Johnson, 19, was arrested in Rhode Island after he allegedly shot two people just one year after the Pope declared his 2007 birth a “miracle.”

Johnson was born prematurely and was deprived of oxygen just moments after his birth but was reportedly revived after a doctor prayed for him which prompted the Pope to declare his birth a miracle nearly two decades later.

The Daily Caller provided further details on the arrest of Johnson:

A Rhode Island man, whose birth was declared a miracle by Pope Leo XIV after he remained without oxygen for over an hour, was arrested in connection with a shooting in his state.

Officers with the Newport Police Department arrested Tyquan Johnson, 19, on Wednesday, according to an official statement. He was taken into custody and charged with “Felony Assault with a Firearm and Discharging a Firearm in a Compact Area.”

Newport Police Officers responded to the scene of a shooting at around 9:55pm on July 19. Two victims were found with “non-threatening injuries.”

Officers found that two suspects were involved, and identified one as Johnson. The U.S. Marshals Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested him Wednesday in Newport News, Virginia.

The investigation is ongoing and the second suspect’s location is unknown as of early Thursday.

Here’s Johnson’s mugshot and a photo of his miracle birth:

Rhode Island man whose birth was declared a 'miracle' by Pope Leo XIV arrested for double shooting https://t.co/EW4Qujz9Wi pic.twitter.com/T3lXstxwVt

— New York Post (@nypost) July 30, 2026

The New York Post provided the backstory of Johnson’s birth being declared a miracle by the Pope:

The arrest comes almost exactly a 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, the Boston Globe reported.

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The stunning connection came to light when law enforcement released his arrest warrant with Johnson’s photo, name and date of birth matching those of the man Pope Leo had recognized in July 2025.

Johnson was born prematurely on Jan. 14, 2007, at the former Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island in Pawtucket.

The newborn was suffering from oxygen deprivation and other symptoms that showed no improvement after 65 minutes, leaving doctors with little hope he would survive, according to the Diocese of Providence.

The attending physician, Juan Sanchez-Esteban, prayed to 19th-century Spanish priest Valera Parra for intervention in saving the child’s life, according to the Boston Globe.

Just as Sanchez-Esteban was about to deliver the devastating news to the child’s parents, a nurse stopped him and told him the child “suddenly recovered” and his heart had started beating without medical intervention, he told the outlet.

The doctor — who is from the same region of Spain where Parra was a priest — said the boy should have suffered permanent brain damage from the lack of oxygen, but instead lived a life completely free of any complications.

The investigation into the miracle began more than 10 years ago — with a bishop in Valera Parra’s native Spain sending investigators to Rhode Island in 2014, Father Timothy Reilly, Chancellor of the Diocese of Providence, told WJAR last year.

The Diocese of Providence announced that Pope Leo XIV declared Johnson’s recovery a miracle on July 18, 2025.

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“The cool thing is, the more you think about the miracle itself, Father Valera lives in the 19th century,” Reilly said. “He never came to the US. We have no knowledge of him coming here. Never came to Rhode Island. And yet, because the doctor called out and called upon his name for help in the situation back in ’07 on behalf of that little baby, he decided to intervene and ask God for a miracle.”