A man suspected of chopping up his ex-girlfriend with a meat cleaver and stashing her body parts in luggage in Brooklyn, lived with her dismembered corpse for a month, authorities said Monday, Nov. 7.
The body of D’Asia Johnson, 22, was discovered by cops conducting a wellness check at her Cypress Hills apartment on Sept. 21.
Justin Williams, 24, had used towels and cleaning products to mask the smell coming from the two suitcases at the home of his murdered ex, D’Asia Johnson, 22, prosecutors said in new court papers.
Williams was indicted and charged Monday, Nov. 7, with murder and concealment of a human corpse raps in the grisly slaying of Johnson, law enforcement authorities said.
He was ordered held without bail at his arraignment in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Monday.
Williams stabbed Johnson nine times, knifing her five times to the front of her torso and four times to the back, authorities said.
He then dismembered her body and stuffed it in the suitcases, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office said. The accused lived in her apartment with her dismembered corpse for weeks, prosecutors added.
In an interview with Brooklyn detectives in October, Williams waived his right to remain silent and admitted to killing Johnson and dismembering her corpse, according to court documents.
Surveillance footage showed the pair coming and going from her apartment between Aug. 17 and 21, police said Monday.
Then Johnson worked her shift at a Queens Macy’s on Aug. 21, returned home, and was never seen alive again, cops said.
“He has exclusive opportunity into that apartment and then after the 22nd, which we believe is the day the homicide occurs, we never see her again,” NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig told reporters Monday, referring to Williams and the victim.
“After the 22nd, Justin Williams’ new girlfriend shows up,” Essig said.
During cops’ initial investigation, pools of splattered blood were discovered inside the victim’s Linwood Street apartment, and Johnson’s body parts were later found in the suitcases at the apartment.
Before Johnson’s dismembered corpse was found, concerned building security guards tried to check on her because she hadn’t been seen in a week, cops said. Williams turned the guards away at the door and then ran off before cops showed up and found the gruesome scene, police said.
Neighbors later told The Post that Johnson had long been violently abused by her ex-boyfriend and sources said she had gotten an order of protection against him, to no avail.
“For two years he [was] beating on her, broke her apartment down, broke her legs, broke her ribs,” neighbor Stephanie Harris said. “Her mom was complaining, ‘I want to get her away from this building. She’s gonna end up dead, please get her away from this building.’ Nobody wants to listen.”
After Johnson’s murder, prosecutors alleged that Williams’ current girlfriend used his slain ex’s federal benefits card for purchases in New York City.
Ten days after Johnson’s remains were discovered, Williams was shipped to Nassau County to face two bail-jumping cases, police said.
In those Nassau cases, Williams was sought for skipping out on a second-degree assault rap for allegedly hitting a 66-year-old man in Freeport in June 2021 and on charges accusing him of stealing nearly $1,200 in merchandise from a Westbury Walgreens in June 2020.
Williams faces up to life in prison if convicted.
