CLEVELAND — On Friday, Armond Johnson was given four consecutive sentences of life without parole for killing four people in Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhood in 2019 – including two children.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Timothy McCormick handed down the sentence to Johnson just two weeks after a jury determined that he should not be given the death penalty, citing "the aggravated circumstances did not outweigh the mitigating factors beyond a reasonable doubt."
DETAILS OF THE CASE
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley’s office previously said Johnson shot and killed 25-year-old Takeyra Collins inside her residence near East 63rd Street and Fleet Avenue on July 8, 2019.
“He then set the house on fire and fled the scene,” according to the prosecutor’s office.
Her two young children -- including Johnson’s 6-year-old son -- were both inside the residence at the time and died as a result of the fire. A 35-year-old man was then shot and killed in a vacant field near the residence.
The victims in the case have been identified as follows:
- 35-year-old David Cousin
- 25-year-old Takeyra Collins
- 6-year-old Armond Johnson Jr. (his son)
- 2-year-old Aubree Stone
“Armond Johnson brutally murdered four people including his own son,” O’Malley said in a previous statement on the case. “His callous actions demand that he face the ultimate punishment.”
THE CHARGES
Johnson, 29, was found guilty last month on Sept. 2 for the following charges in the case:
- Fourteen counts of aggravated murder
- Three counts of arson
- Two counts of endangering children
- One count of kidnapping
- One count of tampering with evidence
PREVIOUS COVERAGE OF THE CASE:
Editor's note: Video in the player above was originally published in a previous story on Sept. 2, 2022.