In the early morning hours of July 2, 2015, the quiet of an Extended Stay America hotel in Burlington, Massachusetts, was shattered by a woman's scream and the sound of a gunshot. Responding to a 911 call from the front desk, police conducted a room-by-room search and discovered the body of 34-year-old Sanisha Johnson of the Bronx, New York, in a first-floor room. She had been fatally shot in the chest.
The investigation into the female victim's death quickly revealed a sinister plot.
Authorities identified two suspects, 24-year-old Epshod Jeune of Burlington and 21-year-old Derrell Fisher of Roxbury, who were captured on hotel surveillance video. Investigators learned that the duo was engaged in a crime spree, using the website Backpage to target and rob women working as escorts. In fact, shortly before the murder in Burlington, Jeune and Fisher had robbed and assaulted another woman at a Red Roof Inn in the nearby town of Woburn. Jeune was a former employee of the Burlington hotel where Johnson was killed.
The two men were apprehended on Monday, July 6, 2015, just days after the murder. They were arraigned in Woburn District Court and charged with a host of crimes, including murder, attempted armed robbery, and unlawful possession of a firearm. Both men were ordered held without bail. Prosecutors stated that a third individual, who drove the getaway car, had not yet been identified or charged.
In November 2017, following a trial in Middlesex Superior Court, both Epshod Jeune and Derrell Fisher were convicted in connection with Sanisha Johnson's murder. The convictions brought a close to a case that highlighted the dangers faced by individuals in the sex trade and the determined efforts of law enforcement to bring their assailants to justice.
