Los Angeles mother at center of eclipse day murder-suicide was astrology influencer
Days before she carried out an apparent murder-suicide — killing her boyfriend, one of her two children and then herself — Danielle Cherakiyah Johnson was posting on social media about the eclipse …
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Los Angeles mother at center of eclipse day murder-suicide was astrology influencer
Days before she carried out an apparent murder-suicide — killing her boyfriend, one of her two children and then herself — Danielle Cherakiyah Johnson was posting on social media about the eclipse and the impending end of the world.
Johnson, an apparent astrology influencer posting under the handle @MysticxLipstick, described herself online as a “divine healer” and recording artist. She had more than 100,000 followers on X.
“This eclipse is the epitome of spiritual warfare,” she wrote in a post shared on April 4. “Get your protection on and your heart in the right place. The world is very obviously changing right now and if you ever needed to pick a side, the time to do right in your life is now. Stay strong you got this.”
The next day, Johnson, who also went by the moniker Ayoka, penned one of her final social media missives, which is still pinned to the top of her profile. It was reposted by thousands of people and liked by hundreds of others.
“WAKE UP WAKE UP THE APOCALYPSE IS HERE,” she said. “EVERYONE WHO HAS EARS LISTEN. YOUR TIME TO CHOOSE WHAT YOU BELIEVE IS NOW. IF YOU BELIEVE A NEW WORLD IS POSSIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE RT NOW. THERE IS POWER IN CHOICE. THERE IS POWER IN CHOICE!!!! REPOST TO MAKE THE CHOICE FOR THE COLLECTIVE.”
Later in the day on April 5, Johnson wrote the word “LOVE” over and over. Her social media content also included a mix of antisemitic rants, conspiracy theories about vaccines and warnings about the end of the world in addition to astrological predictions and positive affirmations.
Around 4:30 a.m. Monday, authorities in Los Angeles discovered Johnson’s 8-month-old daughter in the middle of the 405 Freeway, near the Sepulveda Boulevard/Howard Hughes Parkway exit. She was pronounced dead on the scene. Her 9-year-old sister managed to drag herself to the side of the highway despite sustaining “moderate” injuries. Police said Johnson drove them both to the area and then slowed down her vehicle and ordered them to get out of her car.
When her older child refused, Johnson “ then forcibly pushed her out of the vehicle, in the middle of the freeway, while moving, while the 9-year-old was holding the 8-month-old baby,” Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Guy Nolan told ABC 7.
Before that, police said Johnson fatally stabbed her 29-year-old boyfriend, Jaelen Chaney, inside the Woodland Hills apartment they shared. She then fled the scene with her children, forcing them both out of her vehicle a short time later, before she sped into a tree on the side of the Pacific Coast Highway in Redondo Beach and died. She’d been traveling more than 100 mph at the time.
A motive for the violent spree remains under investigation. Golan confirmed authorities have reviewed Johnson’s social media posts, but said they are not considering the eclipse to be a precipitating or contributing factor to the slayings “because we just don’t know why she did what she did.”
He added: “We’ve taken all the facts we can, but without being able to interview her and without having something more tangible than a post on X, I don’t know how much weight you can give to somebody (saying) there’s an apocalypse and attribute it to one of the most horrific murders we’ve had in L.A.”
