A new brutal incident has unfolded in East Harlem. The incident has put all the relations in the frame of question and on the stake of doubt.
A 20-year-old woman, Shayla Johnson was fatally murdered in a Manhattan Apartment on Wednesday. The alleged culprit is her 26-year-old elder brother Rodney Johnson in the words of the Police in conformity with Gothamist.
This wasn’t Rodney’s first encounter with the police officials, he had previously restrained two orders in the past that were also related to physical violence one in September 2019 and the other in March 2017.
A distressed call was made at the NYCHA’s Lincoln Houses in East Harlem around 8 a.m. on that fateful Wednesday. The officials retrieved Shayla Johnson with severe stab wounds to her neck and chest. Despite being rushed to the NYC Health and Hospitals/ Harlem, she gave up on her life because of the fatal injuries.
Shayla’s older sister, Shekemea Johnson, who is a resident of a different neighborhood, was devastated by the news. “I’m lost for words,” said their older sister Shekemea Johnson, who lives in a different neighborhood and learned about her sister’s death from their mother and aunt. “He had to premeditate this” as per Gothamist.
She also disclosed that Rodney had anger issues for a long time, which led to his violent behavior toward Shayla. She was the youngest of all four siblings. Rodney was violent towards his previous partners also.
Despite attempts to get him into therapy programs, Rodney didn’t continue them and managed to get out of jail quickly each time after violating orders.
“He always got out,” she said. “I don’t know what type of program Harlem has that bails people out the next day. That’s just crazy.”
Shayla’s elder sister recalls that even two days before the incident, she received distressing messages from Shayla, and informed her about Rodney’s threats and also intended to involve the police in it.
Unfortunately, the situation escalated when Rodney flew into anger upon finding Shayla heating up pizza in the oven, warming the apartment. She further stated, “He waited for her to get in the shower. That bathroom door was locked, he kicked the door down,” the distraught sister recounted. “And he stabbed her 17 times.”
Shekemea emotionally recalled her sister’s potential and generous attitude toward everyone. Shayla was recognized as a kind young woman who recently graduated from high school. She loved spending time with her friends and traveling.
She embraces her younger sister’s untimely death and adds, “She just turned 20 in January,” Shekemea said. “She didn’t even figure it out yet.”
Shekemea believed that Rodney was jealous of the love that Shayla gets from her near dear ones which contributed to his violent outburst. “I think he was just jealous,” she said. “He’s jealous that my sister had people that loved and cared about her, and we would be there for her for anything, give her anything she needed.”
Shekmea said he himself contacted the police to report the incident and confessed his actions while he was standing in front of the building at the time of arrival of the police. He was arraigned in Manhattan criminal court and was put on remand in custody.
With the continuation of the investigation in the case, details about his past restraining orders are sealed.
