The peaceful surroundings of a neighborhood in Augusta, Kansas were shattered over Labor Day weekend back in 2023 when a horrific crime took place. Joanne Johnson, a 93-year-old great-grandmother, was found murdered in her home in an attack that authorities have described as brutal.

Almost a year after Johnson’s murder, investigators revealed a shocking development. On August 15, 2024, two girls, both aged 14, were arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with Johnson’s death. At the time of the alleged crime, the girls were 13 years old. Both suspects are currently held in separate juvenile detention facilities.

As reported by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), Johnson was bludgeoned to death with a hatchet. The assault was so brutal that her son, upon discovering her body, struggled to identify his own mother. “If we hadn’t seen her tennis shoes, I wouldn’t have recognized who she was,” he said.

The motive behind this heinous act remains unknown. The investigators found no evidence of robbery, indicating that Johnson was not targeted for her belongings. The absence of a clear motive has left both law enforcement and the community grappling to comprehend the senseless crime.

As per her family, Joanne Johnson was a compassionate person who showed great interest in other people’s lives and remembered details about them. The obituary mentioned that she was a committed fan of the Kansas University Jayhawks basketball team and took immense pride in her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The investigation into Johnson’s murder presented numerous challenges. It took nearly a year of meticulous work, including conducting several interviews, analyzing physical evidence, and executing multiple search warrants, before the arrests were made. Melissa Underwood, the Communications Director for the KBI, stated that the breakthrough in the case was achieved without the aid of public tips or information that directly contributed to solving the crime.

Johnson’s son referred to the incident as an unfathomable, violent crime that occurred in a quiet residential area of their small town. He compared the improbability of such an event happening in their community to a lightning strike on a clear day.

The suspects’ ages have raised complicated legal questions. Under Kansas law, individuals under 14 cannot be tried as adults. If the girls are found guilty, they could be held in juvenile detention facilities only until they reach the age of 22 and a half.

The Johnson family is advocating for the teenage suspects to be prosecuted as adults, given the extreme brutality of the crime. They believe that the maximum penalties under the current juvenile justice system are inadequate in light of the gravity of the offense. Tim Johnson, the victim’s son, underscores the need to balance the severity of the crime with the fact that the accused are minors, and the family is seeking an interpretation of Kansas law that would allow adult prosecution despite the usual age restrictions.

In April 2024, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly issued an executive order offering a reward of $5,000 for information leading to the resolution of the case. The Johnson family matched this amount, taking the total reward to $10,000. However, the arrests were not the result of any public tip or reward-related information, according to the KBI.

Following the news of the arrests, a man who claims to be the father of one of the suspects gave a different account of the events to a local news station. According to him, on the day of the murder, a man coerced his daughter and her friend into going to Johnson’s home, where he used a rusty axe from the garage to commit the murder in front of the two girls. These claims have not been confirmed or addressed by official sources, and the investigation continues.

The two teenage suspects have entered not-guilty pleas. Their next court hearing is scheduled for October 31.