Man acquitted of murder of 16-year-old Phylicia Barnes, now charged with rape and strangulation of the woman

BALTIMORE – Michael Maurice Johnson, who was acquitted after three trials in the sensational murder of teenager Phylicia Barnes in Baltimore City, has now been charged with the rape and assault of a 19-year-old in Baltimore County.

Johnson, 40, endured a legal battle that lasted nearly a decade – first convicted by a jury, then acquitted by a judge in 2018 for the killing of Barnes, a star student at a North Carolina high school who visiting her half-sister in northwest Baltimore.

The case drew national attention.

Johnson spent about three years in prison after being found guilty at his first trial in 2013, but the verdict was eventually overturned.

Case in Baltimore County

Johnson now faces charges of first- and second-degree rape and assault stemming from an alleged attack at a Baltimore County apartment complex on Monday.

Charging documents obtained by WJZ say the victim dated Johnson, called him a “sugar daddy,” and lived with him in Pennsylvania last year until her foster family reported her missing.

She told police he attacked her for six hours after becoming enraged when he heard her talking about a boy on the phone with her sister.

She told them that Johnson “strangled her until she eventually lost consciousness” and said that he “hit her on the head with a fan and then began to strangle her again with both hands.”

She claimed he raped her and later called her social worker, who called the police.

The indictment states that the victim was so badly injured that he could not speak and had to text on his phone.

Barnes’ father reacts

Russell Barnes, Phylicia Barnes’ father, said the new allegations against Johnson bring back memories of his daughter’s death.

Barnes’ body was found in 2011 near the Conowingo Dam in the Susquehanna River.

“It reminds me of how Phylica was murdered and what happened to her, her innocence and how her life was taken. We believe she was suffocated and strangled after being raped,” Russell Barnes told WJZ investigator Mike Hellgren on Wednesday. “I was deeply shocked when I got the call yesterday. I automatically started crying, praying for the young woman, making sure she was OK when I found out she was alive. But what she must be going through.”

Hellgren asked Russell Barnes what he thought would happen next.

“A justice system that will find him guilty in this case and reopen Phylicia’s case because we know that there were other things that happened on that day, December 28th, that nobody told,” said Russell Barnes. “So we know that there are some things and some people that were still involved in Phylicia’s murder that didn’t tell. Michael Johnson holds the key.”

Johnson’s statement to the police

In the Baltimore County case, Johnson told police the victim became angry because he was texting another woman and punched her in the face and right arm.

According to police, he had scratches on his forearms and a bump on his head, indicating that the victim was trying to defend himself.

“We want the justice system not to fail this young woman and her family like it failed us,” said Russell Barnes.

According to court documents, Johnson lived in York, Pennsylvania.

On Thursday, he was denied bail.

Johnson has a preliminary hearing later this month and court records show he is being represented by the public defender’s office.