Jurors who will recommend whether convicted killer Armond Johnson Sr. will die by execution or live his life in prison heard testimony Wednesday that Johnson’s family has been plagued by violence.
CLEVELAND, Ohio --
Johnson and his defense attorneys, Jim McDonnell and Tom Shaughnessy, hope that the testimony will be enough to sway jurors away from recommending Johnson face the death penalty for the July 9, 2019, slayings of Takeyra Collins, 25; Armond Johnson Jr., 6; Aubree Stone, 2; and David Cousin, 35. Collins, who ended her relationship with Johnson two months before her death, was shot 10 times in her bedroom, including once in the back of the head and several times in the back, testimony showed. The children were found lying on the floor next to each other in Armond Jr.’s bedroom after Aubree woke up and went into her brother’s bedroom, prosecutors said.
Video from a McDonald’s restaurant a few blocks away from Collins’ home showed Johnson’s aunt picking him up shortly after the killings. The records show that Johnson’s mother and her five siblings were removed from their home as children because of abuse and neglect allegations in 1986. Johnson’s grandmother was murdered two months later by her boyfriend when she was four months pregnant.
Armond Johnson has had intellectual deficiencies from birth and failed most of his tests in elementary school before he was charged with a sex offense when he was 13.