BATON ROUGE — Brynnen Murphy, the man convicted of killing his pregnant girlfriend Kaylen Johnson and tossing their young son over the Central Thruway in 2022, has been sentenced to 95 years in Angola. Kaylen was pregnant with Murphy’s baby.
Murphy received the maximum sentence of 40 years for each count of manslaughter (two counts) and 15 years for feticide, which will run consecutively.
Brynnen Murphy accepted a plea deal in April this year, where he pled guilty to two counts of manslaughter and one count of feticide. He was 20 years old at the time of the murders of Kaylen Johnson and her two-year-old son Kaden Johnson, along with Kaylen’s unborn child.
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.”
District Attorney Hillar Moore said in April, “I think this is a really good resolution to which is pretty much a life sentence.”
The family of Kaylen Johnson, Kaden Johnson, and Kayla’s unborn child Heaven spoke in the courtroom during sentencing, expressing the immense pain they feel in the aftermath of losing the three. They asked that, while no sentence could bring back their beloved family members, the judge recognize their suffering and issue a sentence that reflects the gravity of the crimes Brynnen Murphy is convicted of.
“The moment they were taken from us, our lives were shattered in ways that can never be repaired. The emptiness, the grief and the overwhelming sense of loss have become our daily reality. Kaylen and Kaden were more than just names in the courtroom. They were full of life, love and dreams,” the family read out loud in their victim impact statement.
“Since that tragic day, we have struggled to find peace. The nights are sleepless, the days feel empty, and the memories–while precious–are now painful reminders of what was taken from us. The sound of their laughter is now a distant echo. Holidays, birthdays, and everyday moments are no longer the same; they are filled with sorrow instead of joy.”
In March 2022, BRPD and EBRSO began looking for 24-year-old Kaylen and her son Kaden. The two had been last seen on March 5, 2022.
Their bodies were found in two separate locations on March 14th. Murphy turned himself into Baton Rouge Police that same day after admitting to officers he allegedly shot and dumped his girlfriend’s body on March 5th.
He added that two-year-old Kaden was alive when he tossed him over the Central Thruway and then drove off despite hearing him cry.
Shortly after the bodies were discovered, an autopsy revealed Kaylen Johnson died from multiple gunshot wounds. At the time, Kaden’s cause of death was suspected to be hypothermia as he was alive for a while after he was tossed over the bridge.
Murphy’s own grandfather spoke to UWK in 2024. Alfred Murphy expressed regret about the situation and wondered if knowing more about the situation could have helped prevent the crimes.
“If I could have done anything, anything in my power to have prevented this from happening, I would have done it,” he said.
As part of his job, Alfred often passes the Central Thruway, where young Kaden died, and he says that every time he goes by, he prays and asks for forgiveness for Brynnen. He said that he will always carry Kaylen and Kaden in his heart.
Murphy’s grandfather also emphasized during the interview that his family does not want Brynnen to go unpunished.
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