An Ohio man who has been arrested and booked into jail is being held on aggravated murder charges in the slaying of his 6-year-old son and three others.
Jail records obtained by the Cleveland Plain Dealer show that 26-year-old Armond Johnson Sr. was arrested at the scene of the murder on Tuesday, July 9 and that he’s being held on the murder charges in addition to a warrant linked to armed robbery that allegedly happened on March 20.
Cleveland police officers arrested Johnson when he arrived at the site on Tuesday to join relatives in mourning the deaths, according to the outlet.
Takeyra Collins, Johnson’s ex-girlfriend and the mother of his 6-year-old son, Armond Johnson Jr., was shot to death at her house on East 63rd Street, as was a neighbor, later identified as 35-year-old David Cousin.
A friend of Takeyra Collins, the woman killed at the house next to the vacant lot, sent me photos of Takeyra from Facebook. She said they went to school together and that Takeyra was like a sister to her. #WEWS pic.twitter.com/OHP0EagLfc
— Olivia Fecteau (@oliviafecteau) July 10, 2019
Armond and his sister Aubree Stone, 2, died in Cousin’s house from smoke inhalation, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office said, reported News 5.
The deaths of the two adults and two children were all ruled homicides.
Johnson has a criminal history, including a 2014 conviction for domestic violence after he attacked his son’s mother while she held the younger Armond.
Police said they would gave an update on Thursday, July 11.
“The Cleveland Division of Police announces that a male has been booked for Aggravated Murder in the July 9, 2019 deaths of David Cousin, Jr., Takeyra Collins, Armond Johnson, Jr., and Aubree Stone. City of Cleveland leadership and Homicide investigators will provide an update on the arrested male’s identity and charges, Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said in a statement sent to WOIO.
A balloon release and candlelight vigil to honor the victims was also planned for Thursday.
Martez Jackson said his sister, Takeyra Collins, and her two children were found dead inside their home on East 63rd Street. Authorities have not said how the three died. https://t.co/63wBza9cVj
— clevelanddotcom (@clevelanddotcom) July 9, 2019
Cousin’s Girlfriend Speaks Out
Cousin’s girlfriend said that he was a good person who had made significant progress in life.
“He loved his family. His family was everything, his friends,” Denneisha Mapp told News 5. “All he wanted, to see his people just do better. That’s all he wanted. He wanted the best for everybody.”
She said he worked as a contractor.
“He’d been doing home renovations and construction in homes for some time. He had the skills so he was developing his own business,” she added. “He’s a hardworking man. The fact that things happened in his past kind of shut him out of a lot of things to show his true potential and what he’s capable of doing.”
A longtime girlfriend & friend of David Cousin gave me this photo of them from a few years ago. She talked to him Monday night, but when she went to see him later that night, he wasn’t there & didn’t answer calls. The next morning, she learned he’d been found dead. #WEWS pic.twitter.com/xCjXCPsDEm
— Olivia Fecteau (@oliviafecteau) July 10, 2019
Cousin’s family alerted her to his death.
“I was shattered,” Mapp said. “David was loved by a lot of people. He really is. He’s really a great person and all he really wanted to do was help people. And he did help people.”
Elijejuan Smith, a longtime friend of Cousin, told Fox 8 that “he was just 100.”
“Everything was straightforward with him, he didn’t [expletive] nobody or nothing like that. He showed love to all his friends, all his family, anybody that needed him,” Smith added.
Leroy Carter, who coaches Cousin when he was younger, said he believed Cousin was trying to help when he was killed.
“I’m quite sure David was trying to do the right thing and probably trying to help somebody because that was just him,” he said.
