Inset left: Deandre Terrell Johnson chokes a state employee (Deandre Terrell Johnson/Facebook/Arizona”s Family). Inset right: Johnson in a booking photo (Maricopa County). Background: The office building where the incident occurred (Google Maps).
An Arizona man will spend nearly two decades behind bars after trying to kill a child welfare worker during a livestream.
In July, De’Andre Terrell Johnson, 33, was found guilty by a jury in Maricopa County of one count of attempted murder in the first degree, one felony count of unlawful flight from law enforcement, and four misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct.
On Friday, the defendant was sentenced to 17 and 1/2 years in prison, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced in a press release.
“It’s not just the violence of this crime, but that he livestreamed it for the world to see, that makes it so alarming,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in a statement. “There is no justification for this defendant’s ambush attack on someone who was simply doing his job to protect kids.”
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The incident in question occurred last fall. At the time, Johnson had an active case involving his daughter. During the investigation, a caseworker interviewed the girl alone in a room – apparently incensing the father to the point of violence.
On Nov. 5, 2024, the defendant and the Arizona Department of Child Safety employee met in the lobby of an office building known as “The Mesa Tower” to discuss the interview. The DCS has some of its own offices in the private building.
“When the discussion ended, the caseworker got up and started walking away,” the prosecutor’s office noted. “Johnson came up behind him and used both arms to put him in a chokehold.”
The defendant kept his victim in a chokehold for roughly two minutes and 30 seconds, authorities said. At one point, the caseworker even lost consciousness. When the other man passed out, Johnson dropped his body on the floor face-first – but then went to choke him again after realizing the caseworker was still breathing.
As the attack went on, the upset father repeatedly told the caseworker he was a “dead man.” But, luckily for all, he was not.
In the footage of the attack, the victim can be seen with his eyes bulging and muscles tensing as drool falls from his mouth, according to independent Phoenix-based TV station KTVK and local CBS affiliate KPHO, which collectively broadcast as “Arizona’s Family.”
Eventually, witnesses, though intimidated by the vituperative father during the incident, were able to get the assailant to let go of the employee. Next, Johnson fled the scene of the crime. He was first seen in Scottsdale on the lam and then arrested by the Mesa Police Department several hours later.
The entire interaction was livestreamed on Facebook – and captured for law enforcement to ultimately use against the dismayed dad.
Johnson was indicted days after his arrest. He was also charged with one count of aggravated assault but was not convicted of that crime.
