Woman found with dead bodies of niece, nephew in car pleads guilty to child abuse
But when she opened a suitcase wrapped in plastic at the insistence of the Baltimore County Police officers who pulled her over for speeding in July 2021, an officer yelled out an expletive and Johnson tried to sprint away.
“It’s a baby,” the officer told another after a few moments of hyperventilating. “It’s a dead baby in that bag.”
On Tuesday, more than three years after police found Johnson’s dead niece and nephew inside bags in the trunk of her car, the 36-year-old woman pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree child abuse resulting in death.
“It’s a baby,” the officer told another after a few moments of hyperventilating. “It’s a dead baby in that bag.”
On Tuesday, more than three years after police found Johnson’s dead niece and nephew inside bags in the trunk of her car, the 36-year-old woman pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree child abuse resulting in death.
Johnson had been caring for the children since 2019 after their mother, Dachelle Johnson, moved to Maryland from Dayton. Dachelle Johnson told detectives she tried to get in touch with her sister many times but could not find her.
In March 2021, she made arrangements to meet her sister to get her children, but they never showed and she had not been able to contact them since, she said. A detective notified her of their deaths, The Baltimore Sun reported.
During an interview with a homicide detective, Nicole Johnson said that in May 2020 she became angry with Joshlyn and hit her several times, causing the girl to hit her head at an area Regal Inn. Johnson then put Joshlyn’s body in a suitcase in her car trunk, according to the court documents.
