SERVING ASCENSION, ASSUMPTION & ST. JAMES PARISHES

Geismar Man Pleads Guilty to 2nd Degree Murder Following 2015 Brutal Homicide

          On July 10, 2017, David Johnson of Geismar LA., age 40, pled guilty as charged to 2nd Degree Murder just one day prior to jury selection following the August 2015 brutal murder of 45 year old Monica Johnson of Geismar, LA. Johnson was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Shawn Bush, and presiding over this matter was the Honorable Judge Thomas Kliebert.  

          On August 9, 2015, deputies with the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office responded to reports of a disturbance at the residence located at 12143 Canterbury Park Dr. in Geismar. Upon arrival, deputies located Monica Johnson deceased in the yard behind the residence. Johnson had suffered from severe head and facial trauma. Through the course of an extensive investigation, detectives confirmed that David Johnson strangled and beat his estranged wife, Monica Johnson, with a baseball bat. The bat was located in a ditch near the residence. After learning that Johnson was a suspect, a BOLO (Be On the Look-Out) bulletin was issued for David Johnson’s vehicle to surrounding law enforcement agencies. Johnson was located and detained by authorities several hours later at a convenience store in West Baton Rouge Parish. Upon notification, detectives with the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office traveled to West Baton Rouge to interview Johnson. During the interview, Johnson admitted to strangling and beating Monica Johnson with a baseball bat in the back yard of her residence. Johnson told detectives that he knew that there was a party at the residence that afternoon and watched from a short distance away. After watching the residence for approximately 2 hours and observing family and friends of Monica leave the residence, he made entry into the backyard where he attacked Monica. Monica’s two young children were present during the attack, with one child actually being struck by Johnson while attempting to assist his mother. Upon fleeing the area, Johnson made several phone calls to family members and co-workers advising them of the crime he had just committed. These telephone conversations were recorded through an app downloaded on Johnson’s cell phone along with other phone conversations between Johnson and the victim prior to the murder. David Johnson was booked into the West Baton Rouge Parish Jail as a fugitive from Ascension Parish, and subsequently transported to the Ascension Parish Detention Center where he was booked accordingly.                                                              

          Prior to the homicide, David Johnson had physically assaulted the victim on more than one occasion. Johnson had actually been served with a restraining order just months prior to the murder after he attempted to strangle Monica during an argument about a cell phone. 

          Upon entering a guilty plea to the above mentioned charge, Judge Kliebert ordered that formal sentencing be deferred to a later date. Sentencing is set for September 11, 2017. It should be noted that the charge of 2nd Degree Murder carries a mandatory life sentence.