A North Carolina woman and her two young children found murdered with diapers and a blanket around their heads died of fentanyl toxicity, according to autopsies.
Benjamin Joseph Taylor, 34, is charged with three counts each of first-degree murder and concealment of/failure to report death. He’s accused of killing his girlfriend, 22-year-old Markayla Johnson, and her two children, 4-year-old Miracle Johnson and 7-month-old Messiah Johnson, in Charlotte.
Autopsies obtained by Law&Crime say a test of Johnson’s liver revealed a “very high level of fentanyl” and the presence of the opioid-reversal drug naloxone. Medical examiners also found fentanyl in Miracle’s blood along with small bruises around the mouth and jaw that “are made when an adult hand grabs tightly or squeezes,” according to the autopsy report, which was finalized in July.
Messiah reportedly had cocaine, melatonin and diphenhydramine, the ingredient used in Benadryl, in his system in addition to the fentanyl. He also had blunt force trauma to his head, although doctors don’t believe that played a role in the death.
Johnson’s family last saw her and the children on Jan. 20 in the area of the 400 block of Orchard Trace Lane in Charlotte. They then began receiving “strange text messages that they did not believe were coming from her,” investigators said. Johnson’s family reported her and the two kids missing March 3.
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Family and detectives with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department on March 5 knocked on Johnson’s door but no one answered. A maintenance employee told detectives he opened the door with a master key but the door was stopped by the security chain. No one responded when he called, he said. On March 6, detectives obtained surveillance video that showed Taylor leaving the state on a bus, a probable cause affidavit said. Cops issued a missing persons alert to the public on March 8.
As Law&Crime previously reported, officers obtained a search warrant for Johnson’s apartment on March 15. When they went inside they found Johnson’s body located in a plastic bin, plastic bags over her head with cords around her neck and diapers covering her face.
“Detectives also located multiple used air fresheners and candles,” the affidavit states. “Multiple fans were turned on and the AC unit was turned down to approximately 62 degrees.”
Cops then searched Taylor’s car. In the trunk, they located Miracle and Messiah in plastic bags inside gym bags, the affidavit said. Miracle’s wrists were bound and she had diapers around her face and head, according to investigators. Messiah was wrapped in a blanket, the autopsy said.
“This is difficult for me as a police chief,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings said at a press conference on March 16. “Nothing is worse than the homicides of small children and family members.”
Taylor and Johnson were “in a relationship” but Taylor was not the father of either of the children, according to Jennings. The autopsy said Johnson and her two children moved from South Carolina to Taylor’s apartment in late 2023.
One reporter asked whether Taylor may have killed Johnson and then her two kids to eliminate witnesses.
“Well, I’m not sure how much a 7-month-old can be a witness, but at the same time, I don’t want to speculate about the reasoning behind any of these murders,” Jennings said.
Cops arrested Taylor on March 18 in California near the U.S.-Mexico border. It’s not clear how cops tracked Taylor to California, but a press release thanked the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI field office there. Taylor was taken the Imperial County Jail and extradited back to North Carolina. He’s at the Mecklenburg County Jail without bond.
Johnson’s family is devastated by the deaths the woman and her children.
“He needs to know that she was loved and so were her kids,” Tabby Holiday previously told Charlotte ABC affiliate WSOC. “She was very much loved. He wanted to just take that away from all of us.”
The family wants Taylor to receive the harshest penalty possible.
“We want a definite death penalty,” Holiday said.
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