Brynnen Murphy, 20, turned himself into Baton Rouge Police on March 14, 2022 after admitting to officers he allegedly shot and dumped his girlfriend’s body a week ago on March 5th. He added Kaylen Johnson’s son Kaden Johnson was alive when he allegedly tossed him over the Central Thruway and then drove off despite hearing him cry.
Murphy is behind bars charged with two counts of first degree murder and one count of first degree feticide. Per Louisiana law, first degree feticide is described as “the killing of an unborn child when the offender has a specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm.”
An autopsy reveals Kaylen Johnson died from multiple gunshot wounds. She was pregnant at the time of her death, but East Baton Rouge Coroner Dr. Beau Clark said more testing is needed to find out how far along she was.
More testing is also needed to confirm Kaden’s cause of death but hypothermia is suspected. The autopsy did not find any trauma to his body.
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On March 11th, last Friday, BRPD officers went to the 11800 block of Old Hammond Hwy. to the Johnson’s apartments for a missing persons complaint. Kaylen, 24, & Kaden, 2, hadn’t been seen since March 5th.
Her family was allowed to go into her apartment to check for her and Kaden but no one was there and there were no signs of foul play. The family told police they attempted calling Kaylen but her phone was disconnected and the calls didn’t go through.
Brynnen Murphy was the property maintenance worker at the complex. When officers initially asked Murphy about the missing mother and son, he denied knowing her or having any information on her whereabouts.
Officers did find Johnson’s Nissan Versa but the license plate had been removed. After getting a search warrant, officers were looking inside the vehicle and found suspected blood evidence.
Murphy lived with his sister on N. Harrell’s Ferry Rd. She cooperated with police and said she could verify Murphy’s whereabouts for majority of the week leading up to the initiation of the missing persons investigation. She also said that Murphy was away from their apartment and she didn’t know where he was from March 5, 2022 at 8:15pm till about 4am on March 6, 2022. That was around the same time Johnson’s family said she was last seen.
On March 14, Murphy allegedly contacted police himself and was detained.
He “admitted to detectives that he shot and killed Kaylen Johnson on 3/5/2022.”
He added that Johnson had picked him up on March 5th from his sister’s apartment with her son in the back seat. He said the two were in the car when they started arguing. During the argument, Murphy said he shot Johnson.
After that, Murphy allegedly “placed her body in the front passenger seat of the vehicle.” At this time, Kaden, her son, was not injured and was still seated in the back seat.
Murphy allegedly drove the mother and son to the 8500 block of Burbank Dr. where “he wrapped her body in a black garbage bag and discarded her in a drainage ditch on the west side of the roadway.” He added to officers that he then “threw the handgun used to shoot the victim, into the wooded area around the dump site.”
After telling officers he disposed of her body, he said he drove Johnson’s Nissan with Kaden still in it to Central Thruway, south of Frenchtown Rd.
Murphy allegedly “drove onto an elevated section of the roadway which was heavily wooded and passed over a bayou. He pulled to the shoulder, exited the vehicle and removed Kaden Johnson from the backseat.”
Murphy told officers Kaden was “uninjured and awake at this time.” Murphy said he then “carried Kaden Johnson to the side of the overpass and threw him over the side.” Murphy stated “he heard the child cry after he threw him over the side, but he drove away and parked the victim’s vehicle on a dead-end street near his residence.”
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