Police Arrest Suspect For Triple Homicide; Warrant Released
Update
Search warrants in the case of Markayla Johnson and her two children have been released.
WCCB has obtained new search warrants in the case after police discovered their bodies Friday.
According to police, she was found in this apartment. The kids were found on the property. The apartment belongs to Johnson’s boyfriend, 34 year old Benjamin Taylor. Police arrested him in California over the weekend. He is charged with all three murders.
According to the search warrant, Johnson’s relationship with Taylor started last year.
They met online in the fall of 2023 and Johnson left Myrtle Beach to be with him.
The warrant also says that someone came to get Johnson and both children in November of 2023 and take them back to Myrtle Beach. About two months later, Johnson returned to Charlotte.
The warrant lays out a timeline of what police say happened. January 20th is the last time family spoke to or saw Johnson and her kids. On march 3rd, Johnson’s phone was turned off.
Two days later, her family went to the apartment, but no one answered the door. On march 6th, an apartment employee went in to the home but saw nothing wrong.
CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings was able to explain the process of getting the search warrants for the apartment.
“Within a week of doing the investigation from our missing persons unit. They were able to determine that all leads were exhausted. There was a potential that some sort of criminal activity had occurred, and we were able to get a search warrant and developed probable cause Friday.”
Update
As a result of an investigation, CMPD says they have arrested Benjamin Taylor, 35, and charged him with three counts of murder and one count of concealment of death on March 17th.
Benjamin Taylor
Original Story (3/16/24)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The human remains of the missing mother and her two children were found in a northeast Charlotte apartment, police announced Saturday.
Officers responded to an apartment in the 400 block of Orchard Trace Lane around 1:45 p.m. on Friday, March 15th. Police conducted a search warrant and found the remains of 22-year-old Markayla Johnson and her two children, four-year-old Miracle and seven-month-old Messiah.
The victims were reported missing on March 3rd. They were last seen in the same apartment complex.
CMPD said they confirmed a crime was committed and are investigating their deaths as a homicide.
Anyone with additional information on this case is asked to call 704-342-TIPS.
