An East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury indicted the man accused of killing a woman while live on social media. He was indicted on first-degree murder, second-degree kidnapping and four additional charges.
Earl Lee Johnson, 35, is accused of killing Janice David, 34, on April 18, 2022. Authorities said part of the killing was streamed on social media.
David’s body was found in the 3600 block of South Sherwood Forest Blvd.
Johnson allegedly stabbed David before 2 p.m. in Baton Rouge. That killing was streamed live on social media with law enforcement confirming the full video lasted about 15 minutes.
Sources confirmed David was stabbed a dozen times to her head and several other stab wounds all over her body. Johnson then allegedly tried to set the vehicle on fire, but did not succeed.
Tracking Johnson’s whereabouts after the killing through sources & neighbors, it appears Johnson ran through the Afton Oaks neighborhood for incidents on Newcastle & Schlayer avenues and eventually into Woodland Ridge.
Because Johnson was injured, he eventually went to an area hospital. Sources said while there, Johnson started telling the hospital staff that he had stabbed and killed someone. Staff at the hospital assumed he may be a mental health patient and were waiting on a psychiatrist to come see Johnson.
Around the same time, a deputy with the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office had already been alerted by the State Police’s Fusion Center about the live video and murder. Someone who watched the video live reported it to Facebook who turned it over to the Louisiana State Police. That deputy had already seen the video so when he saw Johnson, he told the hospital staff that what the man was saying was actually the case. Sources said that’s when Johnson told the deputy everything he allegedly did and the location of the car where David’s body was found on S. Sherwood Forest Blvd.
When deputies arrived to S. Sherwood Forest Blvd. around 10pm on Monday night, they realized the scene was within the city limits of Baton Rouge and handed the case over to BRPD.
In addition to the murder and kidnapping charges, the grand jury indicted Johnson on obstruction of justice in the homicide investigation of Janice David, unlawful posting of criminal activity for notoriety or publicity, theft of a motor vehicle valued at more than $25,000 & aggravated flight from an officer.
*WARNING: VIDEO IS GRAPHIC* *WARNING: VIDEO IS GRAPHIC* *WARNING: VIDEO IS GRAPHIC*
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