A still image capturing the shooting death of Delia Johnson (NYPD).
Delia Berry, the mother of murder victim Delia Johnson, 42, used to consider the woman who killed her daughter as one of her own children.
Berry expressed his sorrow in court on Monday to Claudia Banton, 46, emphasizing that he had done everything in his power for her, according to a report by local news channel News 12 Brooklyn.
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According to prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York, Banton wore a blonde wig and black attire during the attack on Johnson at a post-funeral candlelight vigil dedicated to a mutual friend on August 4, 2021.
The incident occurred as Johnson was conversing with other individuals in the crowd. In a video released by the NYPD, Banton is seen approaching the victim casually and shooting her at close range in the head. Despite Johnson being critically wounded and lying on the ground, Banton continued to fire shots. She then fled the scene and escaped in a double-parked car nearby. However, investigators were able to trace her to Jacksonville, Florida, and on November 8, 2021, U.S. Marshals apprehended her.
The defense tried to cast doubt that it was really Banton on the video, but jurors convicted her on April 3 of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. She is set to spend 23 years to life in prison.
“I feel like she deserved more,” Johnson’s sister, Cordelia McCray, reportedly said. “But today is about change, and today is about forgiving.”
“Her kids can still call her, still visit her,” Johnson’s brother, Mathis Lemons, reportedly said of Banton. “I’ll never see my sister again. I’ll never laugh with her again.”
Banton did not speak at Monday’s sentencing because the defense is planning an appeal.
“This shooting was a cold-blooded execution of a woman who was attending a ceremony to honor a late friend,” Brooklyn District Attorney Erick Gonzalez said. “It is especially shocking that the defendant was so brazen as to carry out this murder among a crowd of mourners, causing chaos and fear as they ran from the gunfire. My thoughts are with Delia Johnson’s friends and family who are heartbroken by this senseless loss of life.”
