BATON ROUGE — The Baton Rouge Police Department has made an arrest in the brutal beating death of 42-year-old Rachel Johnson.
Cedrick Lang was arrested Wednesday at an apartment complex off Florida Blvd. in Baton Rouge. He’s facing one count of second-degree murder.
Homicide investigation
Johnson was found dead in an apartment complex off Florida Blvd. near N. Sherwood Forest Blvd. Monday morning. Sources tell UWK that she was found naked on the couch with severe bruises and bloody injuries.
An autopsy confirmed her cause of death was blunt force trauma, leading the authorities to officially classify it as a homicide.
Funeral services are scheduled for July 8th, at Sandy Creek Baptist Church in Zachary. The wake will be at 6pm with services following at 6:30pm.
‘Full of Life’
UWK spoke with Johnson’s brother Josh Austin, who lovingly reminisced about his sister’s happier times before the tragedy unfolded.
“(Rachel) was full of life. She has a huge smile. She lived happily. She had horses, and she got to live on a farm and do farm-girl things, and enjoy life,” he said.
“However, as life took unexpected turns, she married young and became a mother,” he said.
Austin says that this is when the “demons of addiction took hold”, leading her down a dark path of pain pill abuse and eventually, a life surrounded by drugs.
“I wasn’t able to save her”
“She started on pain pills, and then it got worse and worse. She pretty much lived the last 10 years in a crack house, which is where they found her dead.”
As her brother, he always felt the urge to protect her, even as she struggled with her choices. “I felt like every time she called, I was able to save her. I failed because I wasn’t able to save her.”
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Please call me I messaged you but haven’t heard. 318-359-2513 Gail firmin
My comment is my daughter Christina hobbs was found dead at the apts Florida Blvd the day after Christmas and we were notified is was a suicide but where is the gun. There was no suicide Cedric lang killed her when she tried to come home to Oklahoma. Christinas death never even saw the news just swept under the rug. Newsflash she lived w Rachel,Cedric and cedrics so called wife zandra obrien. Cedric the crack head called us from the phone Christina used last on Christmas. He was cracked out giving all kinds of stories tell omg us his brother was a cop in Texas. What’s up with those apartments looking up record a good portion of them at cop owned. Someone needs to speak up for our Christina before all hell breaks loose. Thank you for your time