Jody Johnson, a 47-year-old female, was found murdered on January 11, 2008, in the 3600 block of Piety Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her death was the result of a gunshot wound, and her body was subsequently set on fire. For years, the case remained unsolved, leaving a void in the lives of those who knew her and a lingering question for investigators.
The break in the case came a decade later when Joseph Brant, a man already facing a life sentence for another murder, confessed to
killing Johnson. His confession was part of a larger admission of guilt for a series of murders of women in the New Orleans area that occurred between October 2007 and September 2008. In exchange for his confession and to avoid the death penalty, Brant pleaded guilty to the additional murders, including that of Jody Johnson.
Brant's account of the events leading to Johnson's death was chilling. He stated that he had solicited her for sex in the 7th Ward and then drove her to an abandoned area. There, he forced her at gunpoint to perform oral sex. Afterward, he marched her to an overgrown, vacant lot where he shot her in the head. In an attempt to destroy evidence, he then poured gasoline on her body and set it ablaze. Brant was indicted on three additional counts of first-degree murder and is serving his sentence in a Louisiana penitentiary.
