South Carolina police arrest Daunte Johnson for Sharee Bradley and 5-year-old Navaeh Adams double murder
Sumter Police Department officials in South Carolina have arrested and charged Daunte Johnson with wo counts of murder, possession of a stolen vehicle and possession of a weapon during a violent crime in connection to the Sharee Bradley murder case.
Daunte Johnson
Bradley, 29, was found dead at at the Lantana Apartments on Aug. 5 around 6 p.m. by her 12-yar-old son and her 5-year-old daughter, Navaeh Adams, was missing.
The Sumter County coroner detailed that Bradley’s body was discovered “in the apartment and wrapped up in a large rug with apparent compromise to the integrity of her face and skull.”
Bradley’s cause of death was blunt and sharp force trauma injuries to the head and neck.
Johnson, 28, was seen fleeing the apartment complex shortly after police responded to the 911 call, and officials say that he has now confessed to killing Bradley and Adams.
Adams’ body was reportedly dump in the trash, according to these new details, which stated Johnson “ultimately confessed to having stabbed and killed both the victim and her mother and having disposed of the victim’s body in a trash dumpster.”
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) confirmed blood from the scene matched Adams and her mother, validating Johnson’s confession.
The final warrant alleges Johnson confessed to using a large folding knife to kill both Bradley and Adams, corroborating the autopsy completed on Bradley.
Sumter Police Chief Russell Roark said there had been forensic evidence collected that led them to charge him with killing the girl, even though her body has not been found.
Johnson is also charged with stealing a 2007 Toyota Camry belonging to Aaliyah Stanley, who Johnson shot and killed Stanley in St. Louis on June 23.
On August 6, 2019, the vehicle was found at 122 Maney St. in Sumter.
The warrant said police learned that the defendant was trying to sell the car.
Police said Johnson admitted to stealing the vehicle, traveling to Sumter and attempting to sell the car.
Johnson has a criminal history that dates back 10 years that includes both Missouri and North Carolina and currently remains in the Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center without bail.
Investigators continue to search for Adams’ body as Roark detailed the search at the Screaming Eagle Road dump site in Richland County.
His officers searched by hand over 230 tons of trash, and had cadaver dogs from Simpsonville come in to assist.
Roark said the South Carolina’s governor’s office has offered their full support with the search.
“I ask you to understand their pain. They have lost a daughter, a sister, they’ve lost a child, a grandchild. This family still holds onto hope that Navaeh will be returned to them,” Attorney Garryl Deas, who is representing the victims’ family, said.
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