Markayla Johnson, middle, and her two children — 4-year-old Miracle Johnson, left, and 7-month-old Messiah Johnson — were reported missing from Charlotte, North Carolina, on March 3, 2024. Investigators found them dead nearly two weeks later. Johnson’s boyfriend Benjamin Taylor was arrested in California. (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department)
Police in North Carolina have released gruesome details about the deaths of a mother and her two young who were missing for nearly two weeks and later found murdered.
Benjamin Joseph Taylor, 34, is charged with three counts of murder and one count of concealment of death. He’s accused of killing 22-year-old Markayla Johnson, 4-year-old Miracle Johnson and 7-month-old Messiah Johnson.
Johnson and her two children were reported missing March 3 when she stopped communicating with family. Her family last saw them Jan. 20 in the area of the 400 block of Orchard Trace Lane in Charlotte.
Family and detectives with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department on March 5 knocked on Johnson’s door but no one answered. A maintenance employee told detectives he opened the door with a master key but the door was stopped by the security chain. No one responded when he called, he said. On March 6, detectives obtained surveillance video that showed Taylor leaving the state on a bus, an affidavit said. Cops issued a missing persons alert to the public on March 8.
Officers obtained a search warrant for Johnson’s apartment on March 16. When they went inside they found Johnson’s body located in a plastic container with cords around her.
“Detectives also located multiple used air fresheners and candles,” the affidavit states. “Multiple fans were turned on and the AC unit was turned down to approximately 62 degrees.”
The next day, on March 16, cops then searched Taylor’s car. In the trunk, they located Miracle and Messiah in plastic bags within travel bags, the affidavit said. Miracle’s wrists were bound and had diapers around her face and head, according to investigators. Officials have not yet released causes of death.
“This is difficult for me as a police chief,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings said at a press conference on March 16. “Nothing is worse than the homicides of small children and family members.”
Benjamin Taylor is accused of killing his girlfriend Markayla Johnson and her children, 4-year-old Miracle Johnson and 7-month-old Messiah Johnson in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Mecklenburg County Jail)
Taylor and Johnson were “in a relationship” but Taylor was not the father of either of the children, according to Jennings.
One reporter asked whether Taylor may have killed Johnson and then her two kids to eliminate witnesses.
“Well, I’m not sure how much a 7-month-old can be a witness, but at the same time, I don’t want to speculate about the reasoning behind any of these murders,” Jennings said.
Cops arrested Taylor on March 18 in California near the U.S.-Mexico border. It’s not clear how cops tracked Taylor to California, but a press release thanked the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI field office there. Taylor was taken the Imperial County Jail and extradited back to North Carolina last week. He’s at the Mecklenburg County Jail without bond.
Johnson’s family is obviously devastated by the deaths of her and her children.
“He needs to know that she was loved and so were her kids,” Tabby Holiday told local ABC affiliate WSOC. “She was very much well. He wanted to just take that away from all of us.”
The family wants Johnson to receive the harshest penalty possible.
“We want a definite death penalty,” Holiday said.
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