35-year-old Earl Lee Johnson Jr. is charged with first-degree murder after he allegedly streamed himself fatally stabbing 34-year-old Janice David on Instagram Live.
As WAFB reports, Johnson was arrested on Monday by the Baton Rouge police department, who later discovered David’s dead body inside a vehicle. Authorities said that her death was streamed on Facebook Live for almost 15 minutes, but he was already under police custody by the time they were made aware of the video. He has also already confessed to murdering David.
“Apparently they were involved in some drug usage together for a couple of days and the end result—as everyone has seen on Facebook [Instagram] Live—is a very gruesome, very evil act,” said Sergeant L’Jean McKneely. She was choked, beaten, and stabbed by Johnson, with whom she is believed to have been on a three or four-day drug-fueled bender.
“She was caught up in a world I guess you could say that you know it was hard for her to get away from,” said David’s cousin, Terri Austin. Johnson reportedly sustained injuries in a police pursuit. He was previously convicted of armed robbery in 2007, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
She was found dead with her hands tied to the steering wheel with jumper cables, with police noting that she was also naked when her body was discovered. “I’ve seen stuff like that happen across the country,” said Sergeant McKneely, who noted that the live video helped in the investigation. “But in this particular area, it’s the first time something like this has happened.”
