A woman from Baltimore reportedly drove around for months with her dead niece and nephew decomposing in the trunk.
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Per a report by CBS, police initially halted Nicole Johnson back in 2021 for a traffic stop in Essex. She was sentenced on Monday. During the stop, the officer reportedly smelled the "unmistakable odor of decomposition." They also spotted maggots in the vehicle. Johnson allegedly removed a blanket from the trunk. Underneath were the decaying remains of a child. Police also reportedly found the remains of a second child inside a plastic bag in the vehicle.
According to the Daily Mail, authorities identified the bodies as Joshlyn Johnson, 7, and Larry Darnell O'Neil, 5. The outlet reports that the bodies were discovered just a week before Larry's 6th birthday. Joshlyn's body reportedly weighed only 18 pounds when police found it. Larry weighed 21.
Johnson had allegedly cared for her niece and nephew since 2019 when their mother, Dachelle Johnson, moved them from Dayton to Baltimore.
Johnson Reportedly Refused To Give The Niece And Nephew Back
The Daily Mail reports that the care plan wasn't permanent, and Dachelle requested her children back. Court documents suggest that Nicole ignored multiple calls from her sister and could not locate the children. Dachelle reportedly planned to meet her sister in March 2021 to retrieve her children, but Nicole never showed up.
The next time Dachelle heard about her children was when the police notified her of their deaths. Per CBS, police reports show Joshlyn may have been dead for a year before she was found.
Later, Nicole allegedly told police how her niece and nephew died. Nicole was reportedly staying in a motel in 2020 with Joshlyn. She got angry and hit the child, causing her to fall over and hit her head. Nicole then stuffed the body in a suitcase, which stayed in the car for months. As for Larry, he allegedly died a few months before the traffic stop. According to the Daily Mail, Larry told his aunt that he was tired and had to lie down. Larry never woke up, and his aunt hid the body in a tote bag.
Nicole Johnson was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Monday for killing Joshlyn in May 2020 and Larry in June 2021.
