Sick: Man Who Killed a Woman Live on Social Media for Fame Found Guilty, Now He Will Face a Judge
In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Earl Lee Johnson was convicted of first-degree murder for the 2022 killing of Janice David, which he livestreamed on Instagram. During a multi-day drug binge in April 2022, Johnson stabbed, choked, and struck David with a tire iron while parked in a car. The jury viewed a disturbing 16-minute video of the attack. Prosecutors highlighted that Johnson deliberately broadcast the crime, seeking notoriety for himself and his son. Despite the defense’s argument that Johnson was intoxicated and mentally ill, forensic experts testified that he was sane, citing his rational clarification that if he was going to prison anyway, killing David would be “worth it.” Johnson faces life imprisonment and is scheduled for sentencing in December.
A jury in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, convicted a man who live-streamed himself murdering a woman in 2022.
Earl Lee Johnson, who stabbed 34-year-old Janice David to death, was found guilty of first-degree murder on Sept. 12, according to WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge.
Johnson faces life in prison when he’s sentenced on Dec. 10.
“You saw him killing Janice David,” prosecuting state attorney Dana Cummings told jurors, according to WAFB-TV in Louisiana.
“I did not create this evidence; he did. And he wanted everyone to see it because he wanted to be famous and he wanted his son to be famous,” Cummings said.
“You saw him say, ‘She was going to say I raped her, they’re going to believe her over me. If I’m going down, I’m going to live forever,’” Cummings added.
DAY 2: Earl Johnson is on trial for the 2022 murder of Janice David. A portion of the attack was streamed live on Instagram. https://t.co/9B2nVQ3hXj pic.twitter.com/rSTKh0VGVK
— WAFB (@WAFB) September 11, 2025
Johnson and David were reportedly on a multi-day drug bender when he killed her in April 2022.
While parked in a car, Johnson stabbed David nearly three dozen times. He also choked her, hit her with a tire iron, and streamed some of the murder on Instagram.
Uncomfortable jurors watched the 16-minute murder video in horror.
Still, Johnson’s defense attorney, Hafiz Folami, asked jurors to take into account the killer’s intoxication, arguing that he was also insane.
“You have to listen carefully and think about every single thing that I’ve listed as far as what he’s done, the erratic speech, the waiting on police to come get him, you have to think to yourself, what normal person does that?” Folami told the court.
“Every single thing she told you shows Johnson was suffering from a severe mental defect,” he added.
An East Baton Rouge Parish jury on Friday convicted Earl Lee Johnson in the 2022 killing of a woman whose stabbing death was livestreamed on Facebook.https://t.co/zcc4SePhRx
— WBRZ News (@WBRZ) September 12, 2025
Folami even referenced the Charlie Kirk assassination.
“Tyler Robinson knew what he did was wrong and fled. Earl Johnson waited for the police to come get him, but they never came,” he contended.
But psychologists and psychiatrists involved with the case determined Johnson was indeed sane.
Forensic psychologist Dr. Laura Brown told the court that Johnson’s reasoning (if he was going to jail anyway, killing David would be worth it) proved his sanity — a point that prosecutor Cummings noted.
“In the video, he told you exactly what he was doing, and he did it in front of you, and he wanted to do it that way, but that doesn’t mean that he is insane,” Cummings told the court.
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