Woman murdered 8-year-old found in attic weighing 35-pounds

Inset: Johna Lowe (Columbus Division of Police). Background: The house where a boy was found dead in an attic (Google Maps).

An Ohio woman will spend at least 15 years behind bars for the murder of her then-girlfriend’s 8-year-old son, authorities announced.

In late June 2024, Martonio Wilder, 8, who was found dead in the attic of his home — hidden in a trash bag inside of a sleeping bag — on Olmstead Avenue in the Milo-Grogan neighborhood of Columbus.

On Thursday, Johnna Lowe, 24, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to one count each of murder and gross abuse of a corpse in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

Under Buckeye State law, the condemned woman is eligible for parole after serving 15 years of her sentence.

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While the incidents leading up to the young boy’s death likely lasted months before he finally perished, law enforcement became involved the case on June 28, 2024 — when Martonio’s mother, LaShanda Delores Wilder, 33, called police to report him missing.

An Amber Alert was out on the airwaves but quickly called off.

During the ensuing investigation, police found the child’s body in the attic — and were immediately suspicious about his manner of death.

Lowe and Wilder allegedly fled the house soon after the missing persons report was filed, police say, amid an initial search. Once officers brought a cadaver dog, however, Wilder allegedly became “uncooperative” and said she did not want the canine inside. So, the boy’s mother left with Lowe and her two other children.

Then, after being forced to secure a search warrant and finding the victim’s remains, investigators were even more keen to speak with the two women. They turned themselves in the next day.

An autopsy report determined the little boy’s manner of death was homicide caused by “asphyxia by anterior neck compression.”

There were also signs of systematic abuse. The medical examiner noted the victim also suffered blunt trauma to his head as well as severe malnutrition in dehydration. At the time of his death, he only weighed 35 pounds and was all of 49 inches tall. The coroner also noted he had “severe loss of muscle mass.”

After the couple were indicted, the Franklin County District Attorney’s Office alleged a history of abuse. Martonio was often locked in a closet to be kept away from food, prosecutors said, according to an in-court report by Columbus-based ABC affiliate WSYX. The victim was also occasionally beaten and choked with an extension cord.

Two days before the child was found dead, he was beaten with a crutch and locked up in a coat closet, Lowe allegedly told detectives, according to The Columbus Dispatch. This was, she said, in line with the “unusual punishments” meted out to the little boy.

“He was full of life,” Martonio’s great-aunt told the TV station outside the Franklin County courthouse. “He was so bright. He loved everybody. He just wanted to be loved. He would give you a hug.”