Up until August 22nd, neighbors of D’Asia Johnson would often hear loud noises from her apartment and that police had been called several times. According to one of the neighbors, it was a lot of fighting and arguing. After that last week of August all the noise stopped.
On September 21st, a security guard in the apartment building went to D’Asia’s apartment for a welfare check. He was blocked from entering the premises by two one, one of which was D’Asia’s boyfriend of several years, Justin Williams, 24, of Harlem.
The guard left and called the police. In the meantime, the two men fled. When police arrived they found a horrific site. The apartment was blood soaked. Police found a bloody meat cleaver, as well as the remains of D’Asia Johnson, dismembered and stuffed into two suitcases.
Williams had killed Johnson by stabbing her nine times, dismembered the body, stuffed her inside of the suitcases and continued to stay in the apartment masking the smell with cleaning products and stuffing towels under the doors, leaving the windows open.
During an interview with Brooklyn detectives in October, Williams waived his right to remain siolent and admitted to killing Johnson and dismembering her corpse. Williams is being held without bond Monday after being indicted and charged with Murder and Concealment of a Human Corpse. He is scheduled for another hearing on January 25th, 2023. When Williams was originally arrested in September, he was first sent to Nassau County to face two bail jumping cases. One was for second-degree assault for slugging a 66-year-old man in 2021 and the other was for stealing $1200 in goods from a Walgreens. He was held on $125,000 bond in those cases which kept him behind bars long enough for NYC detectives to continue to investigate Johnson’s murder. The Brooklyn District Attorney put out this press release on Monday, November 7th.
Also, according to her neighbors, this had been a violent relationship prior, with Johnson returning from the hospital before on crutches, with broken ribs. Williams had broken stuff in her apartment during prior fights as well. At the time of the murder D’Asia Johnson had an active restraining order against Williams. He was arrested back in March for violating that order when he showed up at the apartment to get some of his stuff.
After August 22nd, Williams continued staying at the apartment, even bringing his new girlfriend there and let her use D’Asia’s benefits card to go shopping in New York City.
Back at the beginning of October the NYPD posted the following pictures on Twitter, trying to identify the individuals as witnesses to the crime. If you have any information on them or the crime itself, call 800-577-8477.
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