A Maryland woman was arrested after police officers discovered the bodies of her niece and nephew in the trunk of her car.
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The children, identified as 7-year-old Joshlyn Marie James Johnson and Darnell O’Neal,5, were discovered on Wednesday around 11 p.m. during a traffic stop in Baltimore. Nicole Michelle Johnson,33, had the children under her care since 2019 after their mother Dachelle Johnson for some time to readjust after her move from Ohio to Maryland. Authorities said, Nicole, drove around with Joshlyn’s decomposed body in her car trunk for over a year and then placed Darnell’s body next to his sister back in May.
Dachelle explained in a statement to The Neighborhood Talk that she didn’t hear from her children after Nicole allegedly moved and didn’t tell her where she lived. “I kept trying to reach out, I feel like she got attached and didn’t want to give them back,” she told the outlet.
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During the citation, Nicole screamed at officers claiming she was going to make her “big debut” after she was pulled over for speeding and her car didn’t have any registration or insurance. Officers said while the car was towed, they smelled decomposition from the bags and opened the trunk. The children appeared to be malnourished and weighed between 18 to 21 pounds.
Before Joshlyn’s death, Johnson was staying at a motel when she became upset with the child and hit her several times. This assault caused her to hit her head on the floor and Johnson placed her in the trunk of the car. A year later, O’Neal told his aunt that he wasn’t feeling good and went right to sleep. He didn’t wake up and Johnson placed his body in a tote bag.
Johnson was charged with neglect, failure to report the death of the children, child abuse, and disposing of their bodies.
SOURCE: WSB-TV