Michael Johnson

Michael A. Johnson Jr. (born September 5, 1985) is an American serial killer who, between 2008 and 2010, killed four women in Chicago, Illinois, and discarded their bodies in abandoned buildings throughout the South Side. After a survivor came forward and reported him to police, Johnson was apprehended. He was sentenced to 90 years in prison, later reduced to 85 years, for beating, raping, and trying to kill a woman. In 2015, Johnson was convicted of raping and murdering a woman and sentenced to 100 years in prison.

Early life Johnson was born in South Side, Chicago, in 1985. He was born missing three fingers from his right hand, which is possibly due to his mother's heavy use of drugs during her pregnancy. Due to this, she would not let any of them attend high school. The family struggled financially, so as a way of working, his mother resorted to prostitution, while Johnson would often travel to the corner store to beg for food. Johnson then took a year-long hiatus. In January 2010, Johnson struck again when he strangled Leslie Brown to death and dumped her dead body at 119th and Wentworth, where it was found frozen and nude by a passerby. Later that same month, Johnson strangled 30-year-old Siobhan "Shay" Hampton to death, later discarding her body near Harold's Chicken Shack. In May Johnson killed his final victim, 29-year-old Lutelda Hudson, who was also strangled. Apparently, police had already been looking for Johnson after his DNA was matched to three of the four murders he committed, and DNA soon linked him to the fourth. He was charged with the four murders and the attempted murder of Franklin.

Trial and imprisonment Johnson was convicted of the attack on Franklin in March 2014 and sentenced to 90 years in prison. At sentencing, the prosecution sought the maximum, stating that DNA evidence had conclusively linked Johnson to four murders. On appeal, Johnson's 10-year sentence for aggravated battery was reduced to 5 years. The following year he was sentenced to 100 years imprisonment for the murder of Brown. Johnson has yet to be tried for the other three murders.