Autopsy Reveals Cause Of Death For Mother & 2 Children Killed In Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, NC — Disturbing new details revealed in the deaths of a mother and her two kids. Markayla, Miracle and Messiah Johnson were all found dead in a north Charlotte apartment complex in March.

New information released by the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner’s office shows detectives found the bodies of 4-year-old Miracle Johnson and 7-month-old Messiah Johnson in gym bags inside this car.

Markayla’s boyfriend, Benjamin Taylor, was arrested in California for their murders and was sent back to Charlotte to for trial.

Nearly five months after their bodies were found we’ve learned Markayla and Messiah both died of fentanyl poisoning. Markayla’s body was found in a large plastic storage bin inside the bedroom closet of the apartment.

Dr. James Pearle is a clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, Irvine. He says given the circumstances, it’s almost impossible the deadly drug wasn’t forced.

“It’s it’s kind of a misconception that extraneous fentanyl is likely to have caused death, say, in a case like this. So I think that makes it extremely unlikely that that fentanyl in this case was absorbed through the skin,” Dr. Pearle explained.

Fentanyl wasn’t the only drug found in the infant’s system. The active ingredient in fentanyl called 4-ANPP, along with cocaine, diphenhydramine, which is Benadryl and antihistamine, plus melatonin were all discovered.

“I can’t really imagine that a seven month old would have been capable of finding those drugs and and taking these several drugs,” said Dr. Pearle.

Nalaxone was also found in Markayla’s system. That’s a drug similar to Narcan that reverses an opioid overdose.

4-year-old Miracle Johnson’s autopsy has not been released yet.