On March 1, 2026, a time that should have been filled with joy turned into a scene of tragedy for 24-year-old Precious Elicia J’anae Johnson in Birmingham, Alabama. Just after giving birth to her first child, Johnson was shot and killed by her husband, 19-year-old Kynath William Terry Jr., in her room at the Women's Medical Center at Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital. The incident, which authorities are investigating as a domestic assault, ended with Terry taking his own life with the same weapon.
Homewood Police responded to reports of shots fired at the hospital around 9:25 p.m. Upon arrival, they discovered both Johnson, a patient, and Terry, a visitor, with gunshot wounds. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators from the Homewood Police Department quickly determined the tragic event to be an apparent murder-suicide, domestic in nature.
The couple had just welcomed their newborn daughter, Alaia, who was fortunately not in the room at the time of the shooting. Family members described Johnson as a loving daughter and a proud new mother who was excited about the future with her child. She had served in the U.S. Navy and was most recently working as a nail technician. The devastating event has left their child an orphan and a family grieving a profound loss in what should have been a place of safety and new beginnings.
