A Baltimore woman has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for the deaths of her niece and nephew, who were found decomposing in the trunk of her car.
Nicole Johnson was sentenced on Monday for killing Joshlyn Johnson, seven, and Larry Darnell O’Neil III, five, in May 2020 and June 2021 respectively.
The inseparable half-siblings’ bodies were found one week before Larry’s sixth birthday inside Johnson’s trunk during a routine traffic stop in Essex, Maryland, in July 2021, according to The Baltimore Sun.Â
The officer on duty immediately smelled the ‘unmistakable odor of decomposition’ and saw maggots inside a bag in Johnson’s car during the stop, according to CBS News.
Upon further inspection he found one of the children’s bodies after removing a blanket.
Joshlyn was found inside a suitcase, while Larry was discovered inside a plastic bag.Â
Police believe little Joshlyn had been dead for a year, charging documents said.
Joshlyn’s body only weighed 18 pounds when it was found. Larry weighed 21 pounds.
Johnson had been caring for the children since 2019 when Dachelle Johnson, the children’s mother, moved them to Baltimore from Dayton, Ohio.
Dachelle had allowed her sister to care for her child when she became unable to.
Dachelle later tried to get her children back, but her sister ignored her numerous times and she was unable to locate her two children, court documents stated.
In March 2021, she had arranged to meet with Johnson to get her children, but she never showed up.Â
The next time she heard about them was when detectives contacted her to notify her of their deaths, The Sun reported in 2021.
