By While the victim’s family said the girls’ “punishment should be severe,” one of their fathers claims the teens were “coerced” to enter the victim’s home by another man — who then killed her in front of them with an axe.
In a shocking twist, two 14-year-old girls have been arrested for what family has called the “brutal and calculated” murder of a 93-year-old woman in Kansas.
Last Thursday, the two teens — whose names have not been released because they are juveniles — were “arrested for first-degree murder connected” to the death of Joanne Johnson, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI).
Formal charges are pending, added the KBI, and the two suspects are being held at separate juvenile detention centers. The investigation is ongoing.
Johnson, who lived alone, was found dead in her Augusta, Kansas home on September 3, 2023. Not many details about how she died have been revealed by authorities — though the victim’s family said “the murder was brutal and punishment should be severe” after learning of the arrests. The two girls are also from Augusta.
A man claiming to be the father of one of the teens spoke with local news station KAKE over the phone after the arrest, reportedly telling the outlet he sat with his daughter while police interviewed her about the murder.
“He said his daughter said she and her friend were walking in a park on the day of the murder when a white man came up to them and ‘coerced’ them into going to Johnson’s home,” reported the outlet. “She said the man grabbed a rusty axe from Johnson’s garage and beat Johnson to death.”
“The father said his daughter held her hands over her friend’s ears so she couldn’t hear what was happening, and that the man had told the girls he would kill them and their families if they told anyone what happened,” the outlet continued, with the man reportedly saying the “once active, outgoing teenagers were now quiet and reserved and he had no idea why.”
The arrest comes after Kansas Governor Laura Kelly issued an executive order earlier this year offering $5,000 in reward money for anyone who provided information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. Her family also offered to match the reward for information.
At this time, KBI Communications Director Melissa Underwood said the agency doesn’t believe “any public tip or information helped to solve the case.”
Per Underwood, they also haven’t yet “identified a relationship between the accused female subjects and Joanne Johnson.”
