CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — A search warrant released this week reveals new details in the murder of a Charlotte mother and her two children.
On Friday afternoon, March 15, authorities executed a search at an apartment unit located at 405 Orchard Trace Lane after Markayla Johnson, 22, and her two children, 4-year-old Miracle Johnson and 7-month-old Messiah Johnson, had been reported missing by family on March 3.
Documents state that Johnson had moved from Myrtle Beach, SC, in the fall of 2023 to an apartment along Orchard Trace Lane in Charlotte ‘to be with a new man she met online.’
According to search warrant documents, “[Redacted] states that November 3, 2023, they came to Charlotte, where they retrieved [redacted] and both children from 405 Orchard Trace Lane.”
“[Redacted] was reported to affiant to have been high on narcotics when she was picked up and was in care of the children,” documents state. “[Redacted] states that sometime around the third week of January 2024, [redacted] left Myrtle Beach again, with both children and states she was going back to live at 405 Orchard Trace Lane.”
Search warrant documents state that the family said text messages received from Johnson’s phone number were not like her and did not match up with their experience of how she normally communicates. They believed it was related to her living arrangements, mental health concerns, and possible drug use.
“[Redacted] states that [redacted] and [redacted] paternal grandmother have a custody agreement in place, and the grandmother gets the children on most weekends. The grandmother has not seen the children or heard from them [redacted] since she left home in January and [redacted] has missed all of the weekend visits since she was last seen,” search warrant documents state.
An unnamed woman and other family members went to Johnson’s apartment unit at 405 Orchard Trace Lane to try and speak with her or anyone there, but there was no answer.
An emergency records request on her cell phone showed that the phone was turned off on March 3 in the area of 405 Orchard Trace Lane, and had not been turned back on since.
“On March 6, [redacted] with Orchard Trace Apartments communicated that he entered the apartment unit at 405 Orchard Trace Lane to conduct a wellness check on behalf of the apartment complex and advised that he did not observe any necessary items to care for a child or a baby, to include no food, bedding, clothing, diapers, toys or anything else related to child care,” documents state. “Based on the above facts and circumstances it is believed that there is probable cause that child abuse or neglect has been or is being committed.”
The remains of Johnson and her two young children were found by authorities at a northeast Charlotte home Friday afternoon, March 15. Their official cause of death is unknown at this time.
A missing persons report was made on March 3, when Johnson and her two young children went missing from Orchard Trace Lane; however, CMPD did not notify the public until several days later, on March 8.
Benjamin Taylor, 34, Johnson’s alleged boyfriend, was arrested in Imperial County, California, close to the Mexican border, on Saturday, March 16. He is charged with three counts of murder and one count of death concealment. He is currently awaiting extradition to North Carolina.
According to the NC Department of Adult Correction, Taylor has a lengthy criminal history dating back to 2007. Charges include B&E, assault, as well as weapon and drug-related charges.
