Man Who Tied Woman to Steering Wheel Before Stabbing Her to Death in Baton Rouge and Live-Streaming Murder on Instagram, Convicted

Earl Johnson, the man accused of killing 34-year-old Janice David in Baton Rouge back in 2022, has been found guilty of first-degree murder.

According to police, in April 2022, Johnson allegedly stabbed David to death in a car at a parking lot of a business off Sherwood Forest Blvd., live-streaming a portion of it on Instagram.

As previously reported, Johnson, put his phone on the dashboard and recorded himself beating David while appearing to talk to people watching the livestream, accusing her of stealing drugs. He then stabs David with a knife wrapped in an orange cloth.

The video footage is extremely graphic in nature and we will not be embedding it in this article but you can find the clip here (viewer discretion is advised).

According to the police, David and Johnson were involved in some drug usage together for a couple of days before the murder. Johnson even tried to set the vehicle on fire with David still inside. He was later arrested and admitted to “killing someone” in police custody.

The guilty verdict came following a week-long trial as the jury and courtroom were shown the full 16-minute livestream, interrogation with detectives, photos of the autopsy and crime scene, and physical pieces of evidence from the scene, including weapons and jumper cables used to tie David up.

Johnson’s defense asked the jury to turn a verdict of either not guilty for reason of insanity, or not guilty of first-degree murder due to a lack of an intent to kill or cause great bodily harm.

However, in court, the jury reviewed Johnson’s medical documents from Our Lady of the Lake, which showed several psychologists and psychiatrists had all come to the same conclusion after evaluating Johnson shortly after the murder. They determined he was sane and capable of competency.

The parish coroner, who also tesitified in court, confirmed her cause of death was numerous sharp force injuries, blunt force injury, and inhalation of fire. During the autopsy, they discovered soot in her throat.

Johnson had previously been convicted of armed robbery in 2007 and was sentenced to 15 years behind bars. His sentencing has been scheduled for Dec. 10