Man cleared in teen's 2010 slaying now accused of unrelated rape, strangling

BALTIMORE -- Michael Maurice Johnson, who was acquitted after three trials in the high-profile murder of teenager Phylicia Barnes in Baltimore City, has now been charged with raping and assaulting a 19-year-old in Baltimore County. 

Johnson, 40, went through a legal battle that lasted almost a decade—first convicted by a jury, then acquitted by a judge in 2018 for the killing of Barnes, an honor student at a high school in North Carolina who was visiting her half-sister in Northwest Baltimore in 2010. 

The case drew national attention.    

Johnson spent about three years in jail after being convicted at his first trial in 2013, which was eventually overturned.

Baltimore County case

Johnson is now facing felony first- and second-degree rape and assault charges stemming from an alleged attack at an apartment complex in Baltimore County on Monday. 

According to charging documents WJZ obtained, the victim had been dating Johnson called him a "sugar daddy" and stayed with him in Pennsylvania last year until her foster care reported her missing.

She told police he attacked her for six hours after becoming enraged by hearing her talk about a boy during a phone call with her sister.

She told them Johnson was "strangling her until, at one point, she lost consciousness" and said he "hit her in the head with a fan and began strangling her again with both hands."

She alleged he raped her and later called her social worker who contacted the police. 

Charging documents stated the victim was injured so badly that she could not talk and had to communicate by writing on her phone. 

Barnes' father reacts

Russell Barnes, the father of Phylicia Barnes said the new accusations against Johnson bring back memories of his daughter's death.

Barnes' body was found near the Conowingo Dam in the Susquehanna River in 2011.

"It just brings back how Phylica was murdered and what happened to her, her innocence and how her life was taken. We believe she was asphyxiated and was strangled to death after she was raped," Russell Barnes told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren Wednesday. "I was in deep shock when I received the phone call yesterday. I automatically started crying, you know, praying for the young lady, make sure she was alright, found out she's alive. But the things she has to go through."

Hellgren asked Russell Barnes what he hopes happens next.

"A justice system that will find him guilty in this case and just revisit Phylicia's case because we know there's other things that happened during that day of December 28th that no one has told at all," Russell Barnes said. "So, we know there are some things and some people that still were involved in Phylicia's murder that have not said anything. Michael Johnson holds the key."

Johnson's explanation to police  

In the Baltimore County case, Johnson told police the victim got mad he was texting another woman and struck him in the face and right arm.

Police said he had scratches on his forearms and a knot on his head, which they said were consistent with the victim attempting to defend herself.

"We want to see the justice system not fail this young lady and her family as they failed us," Russell Barnes said. 

Johnson has been living in York, Pennsylvania, according to court documents. 

He was denied bail on Thursday.

Johnson has a preliminary hearing later this month and court records showed he is represented by the public defender's office.