Aunt arrested after her niece and nephew’s bodies were found in her car, police say

A Baltimore woman faces multiple charges, including child abuse resulting in death, after police found the remains of her 7-year-old niece and 5-year-old nephew in her car on Wednesday night, according to the Baltimore County Police Department.

Nicole Michelle Johnson, 33, of Baltimore, was arrested Thursday and charged with two counts of first degree child abuse, first degree child abuse resulting in death; negligence of a minor; offense of non-declaration of the death of a child; and the unauthorized burial of a body as an offense, according to court records.

“The entire Baltimore County Police Department is in mourning with the community for” the untold deaths of two innocent children, “Police Chief Melissa Hyatt said after Johnson’s arrest. this atrocious crime will not stop until those responsible are brought to justice. “

Johnson remains being held without bail, court documents show. A preliminary hearing is set for August 27.

CNN has contacted the public defender representing Johnson but has not received a response.

Prosecution documents filed with Johnson’s charges show that officers arrested Johnson for speeding at around 11 p.m. on Wednesday and discovered that she had neither a license nor insurance and was using a temporary false tag.

Officers informed Johnson would show up to district court in five days and that they would tow his car, the documents said.

Johnson then said, “Regardless, I won’t be here in five days” and “you’re all gonna see me on the news, you all gonna see me on the news make my big debut,” according to the documents.

Johnson then retrieved items from the trunk of his car, including a clear trash bag filled with maggots with a strong “smell of decay” and a black and yellow plastic tote, according to the documents.

The officer asked Johnson to open the transparent trash bag, which she ultimately did, revealing a suitcase that Johnson said contained blankets, the documents said. Johnson attempted to use the blanket to conceal the contents of the suitcase, but the officer told her to remove the blanket and she did so, “exposing the rotting body of a young child”, the documents say .

At this point, Johnson attempted to run away but was quickly caught up, according to the document. Officers then opened the plastic tote bag and found another plastic bag containing the remains of another child.

The bags contained the remains of two siblings, who police said were Johnson’s niece and nephew, 7-year-old Joshlyn Johnson, and 5-year-old brother, Larry O’Neil. Police noted that it will take some time to determine the cause of death and that the Maryland state medical examiner has yet to respond to CNN’s investigation.

Johnson told detectives she repeatedly punched the girl for “misbehaving” causing her to fall and bang her head on the floor, according to the documents. Johnson then packed the girl’s body into a suitcase and carried it around for months.

She also told detectives that she saw blood on Larry’s leg two months ago and that he never woke up after saying he was tired, after which she placed him in. the plastic bag that she then placed in the trunk with her sister. It is not known when the boy’s body was moved to the car. An autopsy revealed Joshlyn weighed 18 pounds and Larry weighed 21 pounds, according to the documents.

Johnson had custody of the children since 2019 after his sister, Dachelle Johnson – the mother of two – said she could not care for them, according to police charge documents. Dachelle Johnson spoke to detectives, saying she moved from Ohio to Maryland in July 2019, when she asked her sister to look after the children, according to the documents.

Dachelle Johnson told detectives she tried to reach her sister on several occasions after dropping off her children and finally joined her in March 2021, according to the documents.

She arranged for her sister to return the children, but her sister never met her and Dachelle Johnson was unable to reach her sister or the children until detectives informed her of their passing. according to the documents.