On a warm evening in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, on August 4, 2021, Delia Johnson, a 42-year-old woman, was amongst a group of people gathered for a candlelight vigil to mourn a recently deceased friend. The mood of solemn remembrance was shattered at approximately 9:40 p.m. when a woman approached Johnson from behind, drew a firearm, and shot her in the head at point-blank range.
As Johnson fell to the ground, the assailant fired several more shots before fleeing the scene in a nearby double-parked vehicle. The brazen and cold-blooded nature of the killing, which unfolded on Franklin Avenue and Prospect Place, sent shockwaves of fear and chaos through the crowd of mourners.
The New York Police Department quickly launched an investigation into the execution-style murder. Surveillance footage captured the shocking incident, and investigators identified the shooter as Claudia Banton, 46, a former friend of the victim. A manhunt for Banton ensued, and she was eventually apprehended by United States Marshals in Jacksonville, Florida, on November 8, 2021, four months after the shooting. Banton, a resident of Allenwood, Georgia, was extradited back to Brooklyn to face justice.
Claudia Banton was charged with second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. During her trial, the prosecution presented the graphic surveillance video as key evidence. A pivotal moment in the trial came when a surprise witness, a longtime friend of both Banton and Johnson, testified that Banton was indeed the person in the video who shot Johnson. On April 3, 2025, a jury found Claudia Banton guilty on all charges. Subsequently, she was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison. Throughout the legal proceedings, Delia Johnson's family expressed their profound grief and heartbreak over the senseless loss of a beloved mother, daughter, and sister. Johnson's mother, Delia Berry, shared in a victim impact statement that she had once considered Banton to be like a daughter to her.
