16 Yr.Old Honor Student Phylicia Barnes

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BREAKING NEWS Arrest made in the Phylicia Barnes case

Press conference slated for Thursday morning

Suspect is Michael Johnson

BALTIMORE - The Baltimore City Police Department says an arrest has been made in the death of Phylicia Barnes, the North Carolina 16-year-old who disappeared in December of 2010 after visiting her family in Baltimore City.

ABC2 News investigative reporter, Brian Kuebler, and ABC2 News photographer, Pete O'Neal, broke the story shortly after midnight.

Baltimore City Police officials confirmed that officers had arrested suspect, Michael Johnson, around 11:30pm Wednesday night. Johnson is in custody on unknown charges.

Barnes' body was found four months after her disappearance in the Susquehanna River near the Conowingo Dam in Cecil County. Her death was ruled a homicide.

She had been visiting during Baltimore during the Christmas holidays from North Carolina to see her family.

A press conference is tentatively set for sometime Thursday to release more on the case.

http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/news/region ... ay-morning

[resigned]

Arrest made in Phylicia Barnes case

By Justin Fenton and Peter Hermann,
The Baltimore Sun
1:30 a.m. EDT, April 26, 2012




An arrest has been made in connection with the killing of Phylicia Barnes, the 16-year-old from North Carolina who vanished while visiting family in Northwest Baltimore in 2010 and was found dead months later in the Susquehanna River.

Word broke late Wednesday from Barnes' relatives, and was confirmed by authorities. The attorney for Michael Johnson, the former boyfriend of Phylicia's older sister, confirmed that his client had been taken into custody at about 11:30 p.m. on unknown charges. Johnson had been the last person to see her alive.

Baltimore Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi confirmed that Johnson was arrested in connection with the Barnes' killing, but could not elaborate on the charges filed. An announcement was expected Thursday morning.

Russell Neverdon, Johnson's attorney, said his client maintains his innocence. He said members of the Warrant Apprehension Task Force came to Johnson's house, arrested him, and took the keys to the house. He said he had previously instructed his client not to answer any questions in the event of his arrest.

Barnes' case attracted national media attention. The honors student disappeared without a trace, and detectives worked round-the-clock in an effort to find her. Her body was later found floating in the Susquehanna River nearly a year ago to the day. The case sparked a bill in the Maryland legislature called "Phylicia's Law," which supporters say will improve coordination between law enforcement and community groups in missing children cases.

Reached by phone, Phylicia's father, Russell Barnes, said the family was "rejoicing" over news of the arrest. He said the family had long suspected Johnson. He said he believes the new Phylicia's Law helped thrust the case back into the spotlight.

"We feel this was there all along," Barnes said. "No one [in Baltimore] knew Phylicia but the immediate family; he dated Deena [Phylicia's sister] for over 10 years and Phylicia was part of his life. ... We will let the facts come out. Justice will be dealt with."

Earlier this week, the lead investigator in the case, detective Daniel Nicholson, was suspended on allegations that he improperly used his position to investigate his own daughter's disappearance. She was later found unharmed, but a wide probe has been launched into how Nicholson proceeded in his search.

Neverdon said he believes authorities expedited the case against Johnson "because they don't want to ruin the credibility of the case" based on Nicholson's suspension.

At one point in the case, The Sun first reported, federal authorities filed search warrants seeking to access to Johnson's Facebook account, among others, referencing a child pornography investigation. Authorities quickly sealed the warrants after they inadvertently became public, and it has not been explained how they related to the case.

On the one-year anniversary of her disappearance, Neverdon said investigators had "nothing" and were wasting time with Johnson, but he disclosed that the child pornography angle related to photos of Phylicia "streaking" with a group of people including Johnson.


http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryla ... 4964.story


Michael Johnson

[bbeba103]

Details in Phylicia Barnes murder emerge at hearing

Teen was asphyxiated in apartment, prosecutors say

April 27, 2012

Details in Phylicia Barnes murder emerge at hearing

Prosecutors alleged Friday that the 28-year-old man charged with murdering Phylicia Barnes asphyxiated the teenager in her sister's Northwest Baltimore apartment, and then moved her body using a 35-gallon plastic tub.

Michael Maurice Johnson, the ex-boyfriend of Phylicia's older half-sister, was seen by a neighbor sweating and struggling to move a container from the apartment, Assistant State's Attorney Lisa Goldberg said at a hearing while arguing against bail for Johnson.

Though that tub apparently has not been recovered, tests convinced investigators that a person of Phylicia's size — 5-foot-9, 120 pounds — could fit into such a storage container, she said.

Prosecutors also said Johnson had exchanged 500 phone calls and text messages with the 16-year-old girl between July and September 2010, and Phylicia at one point had told a relative that Johnson made her feel "uncomfortable," Goldberg said.

A possible motive for the crime, however, was not disclosed. It also remains unclear why authorities charged Johnson now, after a16-month investigation.

The evidence was presented Friday in Baltimore Circuit Court by prosecutors as Johnson and his attorneys sought unsuccessfully to have him released on bail.

Defense attorneys said that Johnson and Phylicia's sister had broken up and he was using the container to move personal items, and that more than a year of police monitoring and investigating had turned up nothing. They also said it was impossible to fit a body in such a small container.

Attorney Russell Neverdon, who has represented Johnson through repeated police questioning, said, "It's very clear that they're grasping."

Johnson "being arrested and charged with this is a travesty, and it's unfair to him," said defense attorney Brandon Mead, who was retained for the hearing and spoke to reporters afterward. "They lack a significant amount of evidence. I don't believe any jury could look at what they've stated today and find him anywhere remotely responsible for any wrongdoing."

Phylicia, an honors student from Monroe, N.C., was visiting her sister Deena Barnes in December 2010 when she went missing. Her nude body was found floating in the Susquehanna River in April 2011.

Johnson, the last person known to see her alive, had long been considered a suspect by police. On Wednesday, prosecutors obtained a grand jury indictment against Johnson, charging him with a single count of first-degree murder, and he was arrested Wednesday night outside his Baltimore apartment.

He came to court Friday in a yellow jail jumpsuit, with his hands shackled in front of him. His right eye appeared to be nearly swollen shut. Authorities say he tried to run from officers during the arrest, while his attorneys say officers without clear identification startled and assaulted him.

At a news conference Thursday, Baltimore State's Attorney Gregg Bernstein was tight-lipped about the case, but Circuit Court Judge John Addison Howard asked prosecutors to outline the accusations to justify holding Johnson without bail.

Johnson had dated Deena Barnes for nearly 10 years — they were high school sweethearts and lived together, Goldberg said. After Deena and Phylicia connected through Facebook, Phylicia began making regular trips to Baltimore to visit.

Relatives have said Johnson had a close relationship with the Barnes family, and he considered Phylicia to be a little sister.

From July 30 to September 30, Goldberg said, Johnson and Phylicia exchanged 500 phone calls and text messages. Prosecutors did not characterize the content of the messages, though Goldberg said they demonstrated that "there was familiarity there."

But during her December trip, Phylicia confided in another sister that Johnson made her uncomfortable and she "didn't like how he looked at her," Goldberg said.

On Dec. 28, Goldberg said, Deena left the apartment in the 6500 block of Eberle Drive for work, leaving Phylicia asleep on the couch along with a younger brother of Johnson's. Johnson arrived at 10 a.m., took his brother to another apartment, and returned to Deena's place.

Goldberg said records show Phylicia using her cell phone and computer up until 12:23 p.m. that day.

At around 1 p.m., a witness saw Johnson coming out of his apartment, attempting to carry a "very large storage container." He was "having a great deal of trouble" and "sweating profusely," taking the container one step at a time, Goldberg said.

Johnson's brother returned to the apartment at 4:30 p.m., and it was empty, Goldberg said. At 6 p.m., Deena came home and realized Phylicia was missing. Phylicia had not met up as planned with her other half-sister, Kelly, and they called police.

Deena also called Johnson, at 7:41 p.m., to tell him Phylicia was missing, but from 7:51 p.m. to 1:02 a.m., Johnson did not answer his phone. Goldberg said investigators scoured security camera footage from the area around the apartment, near the Reisterstown Road shopping center, but found no sign of the girl.

Goldberg said Johnson also missed work that day, after having been dressed to leave.

Prosecutors said Johnson made conflicting statements when asked about the container, saying first that he used it to move clothes and electrical equipment, and later saying he moved "weights." Goldberg said investigators never found any items in Johnson's possession that would have been so difficult to move.

Neverdon said Johnson was already moving out of the apartment, and it was not unusual that he was seen removing items. He also said police had no records showing Johnson in the area of Harford County that night.

"He's here because of a circumstantial case," Neverdon said. "He's the last person to see her alive, so he must be the person responsible for her untimely demise."

Defense attorneys, who said Johnson has no criminal record and is raising an infant child, argued for his release on bail, offering to surrender his passport and have him submit to electronic monitoring.

Prosecutors, however, said he was a flight risk, citing October conversations — apparently wiretapped — in which he told a girlfriend and his brother that he was considering fleeing the country. He specifically floated the idea of moving to Brazil, where the United States does not have extradition powers, prosecutors said.

"The way things are going, I have to be realistic about the situation," Johnson is alleged to have told his girlfriend, according to Goldberg.

Neverdon said Johnson had already left the country, on a cruise, and returned. He said the conversations about fleeing were taken out of context, and came at a time when he was under pressure about the birth of a child he was not ready to take responsibility for. He has since taken a role in the child's life, Neverdon said.

Howard, the judge, ordered Johnson held without bail, saying he was concerned about the conversations related to leaving the country.

Neverdon said after the hearing that he will continue to represent Johnson. Earlier in the day, it appeared he was being dropped in favor of Mead.

Mead's firm includes a partner, Catherine Flynn, who has represented the former lead detective in the Barnes case, Daniel Nicholson IV. The detective was charged in Baltimore County with child abuse-related assault in September, and suspended by the city Police Department this week after allegedly conducting an unauthorized search for his own teenage daughter.

Neverdon said he had met with Johnson and his family, and said he plans to continue to represent Johnson. He expects to add attorneys Ivan Bates and Tony Garcia to the defense team.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryla ... full.story

[bbeba103]

Barnes' accused killer in court

BALTIMORE - The man accused of killing North Carolina Teen Phylicia Barnes pleaded not guilty Wednesday morning.

Michael Johnson, the ex-boyfriend of Barnes’ sister, faces first degree murder charges.

Barnes was visiting family when she was killed in Baltimore in December 2010.

Her body turned up four months later in the Susquehanna River near the Conowingo Dam.

http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/news/crime_ ... z1yM8P3KOr

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Guilty verdict handed down in Phylicia Barnes murder trial

Posted on February 6, 2013 at 11:36 AM Updated today at 12:20 PM

BALTIMORE, MD -- A Maryland man accused of killing a Union County teen was found guilty of second-degree murder on Wednesday morning in a Baltimore courtroom, according to multiple reports.

Phylicia Barnes disappeared while visiting her sister over Christmas in 2010. The 16-year-old's body was found floating in the Susquehanna River 50 miles northeast of Baltimore several months later.

Investigators say Michael Johnson, 28, killed the teen, putting her body in a plastic bin.

On Monday, defense attorneys called only one witness before resting their case. Johnson's lawyers have said there is no DNA evidence linking their client to the 2010 slaying. In closing arguments, prosecutors admitted they had no smoking gun.

Jurors in the murder trial saw a sexually explicit cell phone video of the victim, her sister, Johnson and Johnson's younger brother. Johnson had dated Phylicia's sister, Deena, for about eight or nine years before the murder.

The dead teen's sister testified Monday at the trial. Deena Barnes, 29, admitted that she gave Phylicia alcohol and said she and Phylicia were intoxicated when the cell phone video was recorded.

Barnes was an honors student at Union Academy in Monroe. She was reported missing on December 28, 2010, just weeks before her 17th birthday.

http://www.wcnc.com/news/crime/Guilty-v ... 27511.html

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Suspect in Phylicia Barnes case found guilty of second-degree murder

Posted: Wednesday, Feb. 06, 2013

BALTIMORE A jury has found a Baltimore man guilty of second-degree murder in the 2010 death of Phylicia Barnes, the Monroe teenager whose disappearance and subsequent missing persons case sparked national headlines.

Barnes, an honor student at Union Academy, was visiting family in Maryland when she disappeared two years ago. Her body was found naked and floating in the Susquehanna River four months later. Her half-sister’s former boyfriend, Michael Johnson, was charged with her murder.

As the clerk read the verdict, Barnes’ mother, Janice Sallis-Mustafa, looked up and said, “Yes!”

Barnes’ father, Russell Barnes, hugged his relatives as they left the courtroom. “Now she can sleep,” he told them. “Now she can sleep.”

Sentencing will be handled on March 21. Johnson faces up to 30 years in jail, according to defense attorneys.

Asked about Michael Johnson’s reaction to the verdict, defense attorney Russell Neverdon said Johnson was in shock. The defense attorney recalled that when he asked his client in court how he was doing, Johnson replied: “I’m numb.”

The jury began deliberating Monday after a seven-day trial, and continued deliberations all day Tuesday. The judge sent jurors home for the night Tuesday after they requested a second viewing of two videos, including an explicit 16-minute video that showed Johnson and Barnes naked.

During the trial, Barnes’s half-sister Deena Barnes gave tearful testimony that she let Barnes drink alcohol, smoke marijuana and spend the night in rooms with boys. She also testified Johnson had made a sexual advance toward the 16-year-old, including reaching for Phylicia’s genitals.

Prosecutors used the video and testimony to suggest that Johnson, now 28, wanted to be more than just friends with Phylicia Barnes. They claim Johnson likely killed Barnes after forcing himself on her in her half-sister’s apartment. He then used a large plastic storage container to hide and move the body, they suggested during the trial. A neighbor claimed to see Johnson struggling to carry a storage container, but did not see inside.

Defense attorneys said Johnson and Deena Barnes had recently broken up after a 10-year relationship. The containers were used to move out his things, they said. They said Johnson had no motive to kill the teen.

Johnson’s attorneys argued prosecutors failed to present physical evidence, including DNA, proving Johnson killed Barnes.

But prosecutors urged jurors to look at the sum of evidence that they say points to Johnson, including testimony about the storage container and a 36-year-old thief’s testimony that Johnson confessed to him and asked for help in disposing of the body.

The defense team said it was “unequivocally” the testimony of that man, James McCray, that led to the conviction. They added that if he hadn’t been a witness there would have been a different outcome. They plan to appeal.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/0 ... -case.html

[wvgirl]

Thanks bbeb. Been wondering about this trial.

[bbeba103]

Thanks bbeb. Been wondering about this trial.

You're welcome wvgirl, unfortunately there will be a new trial...

BREAKING NEWS: New Trial Granted in Phylicia Barnes' Murder

20 Mar, 2013 6:00pm

The Judge in the Phylicia Barnes case ruled in favor of a new trial for Michael Johnson.

He has not been acquitted of murder but a new trial has been granted.

The defense argued that prosecutors withheld evidence regarding the key witness who claimed he saw Barnes' body. The judge ruled that prosecutors withheld evidence.

Johnson will not be released.

http://m.foxbaltimore.com/news/BREAKING ... irect=true

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Suspect Previously Convicted In Phylicia Barnes’ Murder Gets New Trial



BALTIMORE (WJZ) — The man convicted of murdering 16-year-old North Carolina honor student Phylicia Barnes will get a new trial. That decision came from a Baltimore judge Wednesday afternoon.

Derek Valcourt explains why and has reaction to the decision.

It has to do with the credibility of the state’s star witness and it means Barnes’ family will have to go through it all over again.

The North Carolina honors student disappeared three days after Christmas 2010 while visiting her sister’s Baltimore apartment.

An intense police search that garnered national media attention ended four months later when her body was found floating in the Susquehanna River.

Prosecutors say Johnson sexually assaulted Barnes, then killed her and dumped her body.


Defense attorneys requested a new trial on Feb. 19, saying the prosecution made improper statements to the jury and withheld information.

The request for a new trial was granted at his sentencing Wednesday, where Johnson faced up to 30 years in prison for second-degree murder.


“Let’s do it again,” said Phylicia’s father, Russell Barnes.

Russell Barnes calls a new trial a setback but says his family remains confident.

“We know the state has the correct man, no ifs, ands or buts about it,” Barnes said.

The ruling for a new trial is all about the credibility of the state’s star witness, James McCray, who had been locked up in a Charles County jail for petty theft. McCray told jurors Johnson admitted to raping Barnes, showed him her body and asked for help getting rid of it.

Defense attorneys say new evidence uncovered after the trial would allow them to cast more doubt on McCray’s credibility in front of the jury and they fault the prosecution for not giving them McCray’s full criminal record—including information about a previous arrest in Baltimore County.

In addition, the defense says a day after the trial, a Montgomery County detective found McCray not credible. The defense has 10 days to request a new trial, but they say the prosecution did not turn over the detective’s findings until 15 days after the trial.

“The Baltimore County information tells us simply that Mr. McCray was in Baltimore County Detention Center during the time period that Mr. Johnson was arrested, so for him to say that and trying to make you almost feel like he’s in Charles County is not correct. It’s disingenuous and it leads the jury on a path that they should never have been led on,” said defense attorney Ivan Bates.

In a written statement, the city state’s attorney said they were disappointed in the judge’s decision but were ready to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

When Michael Johnson does go back on trial, he will face second degree murder, not first degree murder. That’s because double jeopardy rules apply, since the jury in the first trial already found him not guilty on the count of first degree murder.

Michael Johnson remains in custody while he awaits his new trial on May 28.


http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2013/03/2 ... -his-fate/