Lauderhill Man Charged In Girlfriend's Murder
FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4) - A man stabbed when he reportedly tried to commit a burglary Sunday morning led Lauderhill police to another crime scene where they found a woman dead.
About 8:30 a.m. Darrius Johnson, 22, allegedly broke into an elderly woman's apartment at the Stonebridge Apartments in the 2900 block of NW 55th Avenue. One of the woman's family members grabbed a knife and stabbed the intruder.
"My intention was to scare him off, but instead he kept coming at me, so I was doing like this and he got hit a couple of times with it," said the victim's nephew Gerald Curtis.
Arriving officers took Johnson into custody. After he received medical treatments for his injuries, police questioned the man.
Johnson reportedly told investigators that he and his girlfriend had gotten into an argument the night before. When asked where she was not, Johnson replied "she's in heaven," according to his probable cause affidavit.
When asked what he meant, Johnson said "I kept on stabbing her but she just wouldn't die," according to police.
Then he reportedly added, "I think I killed her."
Investigators then asked Johnson where he and his girlfriend live.
"At that point officers came to this location knocked on the door saw the door was ajar," said Lt. Greg Solowsky.
Inside the home, officers followed to blood trail to the body of Johnson's girlfriend, Monica Gooden, which was lying on the floor in a bedroom. Next to the body lay a steak knife with blood on it. Investigators said Goodman had been stabbed to death.
During question about Gooden's death, Johnson told investigators the two had gotten into a fight over his mother moving in with them, according to police. Goodman was reportedly against it.
"The defendant stated he sacrificed the victim for the betterment of himself and the victim. The defendant stated he had plotted for hours deciding who he was going to sacrifice and he knew he had to sacrifice someone with a Taurus astrological sign," according to the probable cause affidavit. "The defendant stated the victim had control over his spirit. The defendant stated he stabbed the victim with a knife and was jugging it everywhere but she wouldn't die. (He) went on to say he fought the victim like he was fighting a dragon."
Police said he struck her in the face with an X-Box, and then used multiple steak knives to stab her all over her body.
Neighbor Mario Langley saw Johnson around 1 A.M. Sunday and said he knew something was off when Johnson came to use his phone.
"He was like, 'Uh, alright, I'm okay,' but he looked like something was wrong with him. I asked him if he was alright, but he was smiling, which he always do when somebody spoke to him," sad Langley.
Johnson reportedly told investigators he finished everything he needed to do in one day and felt like a new man.
Other neighbors said the couple seemed happy. Just two hours before the murder, a neighbor told CBS4's Natalia Zea were kissing right in front of the house.
Johnson's been charged with first-degree murder in addition to burglary with a battery to an occupied residence.
