Aunt kept bodies of young niece and nephew in car for months, Maryland officials say
.png "Joshlyn Johnson and Larry O’Neil were found dead in their aunt’s car during a 2021 traffic stop in Michigan.")
A Maryland woman was sentenced to prison after police said they found the decomposing bodies of her young niece and nephew in her car.
Nicole Johnson, 36, was sentenced to life in prison with all except 50 years suspended on Feb. 10, according to court records.
McClatchy News reached out to Johnson’s attorney for comment but did not immediately hear back.
The sentencing stems from a 2021 traffic stop.
In July 2021, police in Baltimore County pulled Johnson over, WJZ reported. During the traffic stop, an officer smelled “the unmistakable odor of decomposition,” the outlet reported.
Johnson pulled out a tote and a trash bag with a suitcase inside from the trunk, WMAR reported. The bag had maggots inside and inside the suitcase police found the decomposing body of Johnson’s 7-year-old niece, Joshlyn Marie James Johnson, according to the news outlet.
Then, the body of Joshlyn’s brother, 5-year-old Larry O’Neil, was found inside the tote, the outlet reported.
“To put it mildly, this was a horrific crime,” Baltimore County Circuit Judge Nancy M. Purpura said in court Feb. 10, according to the Baltimore Sun.
Johnson was taking care of the kids since her sister left them in her care in November 2019, according to the news outlet.
She later told investigators that in May 2020, she was staying in a hotel with Joshlyn and Larry when she hit Joshlyn for taking food out of the fridge, prosecutors said, according to the Baltimore Sun.
Joshlyn fell and hit her head, and Johnson said she put her body in a suitcase and put it in her car for several months, WMAR reported.
Larry then “lived in a horror film,” prosecutors said, according to the Baltimore Sun.
Then, two months before the traffic stop, Larry had an injury and never woke up, WJZ reported. Johnson said she placed his body in a plastic bag next to Joshlyn, according to the news outlet.
Johnson’s mother told KATV in 2021 she wanted both her daughters, Johnson and the children’s mother, to pay for what happened to them.
“I’d tried to get any help I could. I was waiting for my grandkids to come back home. But they never came back to me,” she told the news outlet.
This story was originally published February 11, 2025 at 4:24 PM with the headline "Aunt kept bodies of young niece and nephew in car for months, Maryland officials say."
