Earl Johnson: Man ties Janice David to steering wheel, stabs her to death on Instagram Live

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT

A man has been convicted of murder after he live-streamed himself beating, burning and stabbing a woman to death.

The victim was 34-year-old Janice David, whose body was found bloodied and tied to the steering wheel of a car on April 18, 2022.

Her grisly murder was witnessed by hundreds of people online, who watched as Earl Johnson, 39, brutally tortured her to death in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

During the five-day trial last week, the jury heard that Johnson had binged on drugs in the days leading up to the violent attack, The Advocate reported.

He held Ms David hostage in his car before he began beating her with a tire iron, using jumper cables to tie her up.

He then tortured and stabbed her 42 times.

Shockingly, the entire terrifying attack was captured in a 16-minute long Instagram Live video that was shown to the jury in full.

One juror cried while watching the video, and several others covered their faces and were only able to watch the horrors unfold through their fingers.

Johnson had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and his lawyers argued that his mental instability at the time of offending meant he could not tell the difference between right and wrong when he killed Ms David.

Hafiz Falomi, a defence barrister, told the court Johnson “suffered from a severe mental defect on the day of (the) incident”, telling jurors they had to think for themselves and ask “what normal person does something like this”.

The prosecution argued that Johnson knew “exactly” what he was doing when he killed Ms David, and that he knew his actions were morally wrong.

Dana Cummings, assistant district attorney, said the prosecution knew Johnson was “not normal” but had argued that he was not insane, and therefore was responsible for his actions.

On the recording, Johnson could be heard saying: “she was going to say I raped her, they’re going to believe her over me. If I’m going down, I’m going to live forever” according to WAFB.

The jury deliberated for less than two hours before it reached a guilty verdict on one count of first-degree murder.

He now faces a mandatory life sentence.

Execution was an option but the prosecution did not pursue it during the trial due to it posing another difficulty in securing a conviction because of the questions surrounding Johnson’s sanity.

Johnson will be sentenced on December 8 after a presentencing investigation is conducted.

Hillar Moore, East Baton Rouge District Attorney, said the murder video was alarming.

“For this killing to be posted live on Instagram for everybody to see was very alarming,” he said.

“This was a young girl — the victim — who was down on her luck at that time in her life and just happened to run into a monster. And unfortunately, she paid the consequences.”

If you or someone you know is experiencing family violence, phone 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) or the Crisis Care Helpline on 1800 199 008.

Lifeline: 13 11 14.