Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: Karari Ritchie Sentenced in 2009 FL Slaying of Tikkitress Johnson

  1. #1
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014

    Karari Ritchie Sentenced in 2009 FL Slaying of Tikkitress Johnson





    Oakland Park Taco Bell murder case from 2009 nears trial

    By Rafael Olmeda
    The Sun Sentinel

    On her hands and knees, Tikkitress Johnson begged for her life. Prosecutors say Karari Ritchie showed her no mercy: She was a witness. She could not live.

    Ritchie, 25, faces the death penalty if convicted of murdering Johnson, 39, at an Oakland Park Taco Bell on August 10, 2009.

    Broward Circuit Judge Ilona Holmes issued a handful of rulings Tuesday to clear the way for Ritchie's trial to begin. Lawyers and the defendant will return to her courtroom on Feb. 25 to set a trial date, likely in late spring or early summer.

    Family members of the victim, including two of her three children (all adult), were on hand for Tuesday's hearing. Her husband, Herbert Johnson, hasn't missed a single development in the case. He was in court last July when Ritchie's older brother, Tesfaye Ritchie, pleaded no contest to one count of first-degree murder and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. And he said he'll be there until the case against Karari Ritchie is resolved.

    "It's been a long stretch for me and my family," Johnson said. "As long as the case drags on, it doesn't give us the opportunity to completely heal."

    The brothers tricked the victim into letting them into the Taco Bell Restaurant at 593 E. Oakland Park Blvd. before it opened by pretending to be job applicants. Once inside, according to investigators, they accepted soft drinks offered by the victim. Then they robbed her.

    Assistant Public Defender Caroline McCrae, one of the lawyers representing Ritchie, questioned why the Broward State Attorney's Office was seeking the death penalty, prompting prosecutor Al Ribas to recount the slaying.

    "It was done to eliminate her as a witness," Ribas said of the murder. "Johnson was on her hands and knees praying to God, 'Don't kill me.' And he [Ritchie] kills her."

    Prosecutors believe Karari Ritchie did the stabbing, with a kitchen knife he brought from his Lauderhill home. His brother was charged with murder under the legal doctrine that two people who commit a felony — the robbery — are equally responsible for other crimes committed in the process.

    Testifying against his brother was not part of Tesfaye Ritchie's plea agreement.

    Police identified the brothers by examining the fingerprints they left on the cups they accepted from the victim when she handed them their soft drinks.

    http://touch.sun-sentinel.com/#secti.../p2p-82583215/

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Posts
    478
    September 24, 2018

    Fed up with delays, victim's family urges murder trial to move forward

    Tikkitress Johnson was stabbed to death in 2009 while working at Taco Bell

    By Neki Mohan
    WPLG Local 10

    OAKLAND PARK, Fla. - Herb Johnson’s patience has run out.

    Nearly a decade ago, his wife, 39-year-old Tikkitress Johnson, was stabbed to death at her job as the manager of a Taco Bell in Oakland Park. Two men -- Karari Ritchie and his brother, Tesfaye Ritchie -- were arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

    Deputies believe Karari Ritchie was the one who stabbed Johnson as she begged for her life. Deputies said the brothers posed as job applicants before they robbed and killed Johnson on Aug. 10, 2009, before the store had opened for the day.

    Johnson had offered them soft drinks before they attacked her, and the fingerprints left on the cups led to their arrest, deputies said.

    Karari Ritchie has spent years in jail, awaiting what is expected to be a death penalty case.

    "I would give anything to bring her back," Johnson said. "But we know that’s not going to happen. But at least if I can get to the point where we get to the trial, get that behind us."

    In 2015, Tesfaye Ritchie pleaded no contest to one count of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

    Johnson launched this plea on YouTube last week, letting the community know what he has been dealing with and urging people to help him. He’s asking people to call Broward State Attorney Michael Satz to move the case along.

    "I think there has been a total of three judges, two prosecutors," Johnson said. "I can’t count anymore how many defense teams that this person has had on his side to defend him."

    The Broward State Attorney office said it agreed with Johnson's concerns but said the delays were beyond its control such as multiple continuances requested by the defense.

    "Our office has been fighting for justice for Tikki Johnson for over nine years," the statement said. "The most recent delay came after the announcement of the presiding judge’s retirement postponing our upcoming trial date of Oct. 9, 2018. A new judge has been assigned."

    The office said the new trial date is set for Jan. 14.

    Johnson and his wife had three children. They now have grandchildren who will never know her.

    He said while they have been waiting for her case to go to trial, his 23-year-old son, Herbert, was gunned down in Orlando in January.

    He said the only thing keeping him going is trying to get justice for his wife.

    "It's appalling to me how the system doesn't work for us," Johnson said.

    https://www.local10.com/news/florida...o-move-forward

  3. #3
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Prosecutors seek death penalty for Taco Bell murder suspect

    By Rafael Olmeda
    Sun Sentinel

    The man accused of killing Taco Bell waitress Tikkitress Johnson in 2009 had a question for detectives who were interrogating him.

    Would God forgive him, Karari Ritchie asked.

    Assistant State Attorney Shari Tate opened Ritchie’s murder trial in Broward with that account, and after a week of testimony she and fellow prosecutor Whitney Mackay are close to wrapping their case in front of a Broward jury.

    Ritchie, 29, is charged with a single count of first degree murder and faces the death penalty if convicted. His brother, Tesfaye Ritchie, pleaded no contest to the same charge in 2014 and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
    <aside data-v-ntidd="1069721" data-adloader-networktype="nativo" data-withinviewport-options="bottomOffset=100" data-load-method="trb.vendor.nativo.init" data-load-type="method">
    </aside>But prosecutors say Karari Ritchie bears greater responsibility for killing Johnson.

    Johnson was on her hands and knees, begging for her life, when Ritchie allegedly determined that she was a witness who could not live, and stabbed her multiple times. The brothers talked their way into the Taco Bell restaurant in Oakland Park before it opened on August 10, 2009, by pretending to be job applicants, according to prosecutors.

    Once inside, they accepted soft drinks from Johnson, a manager, before robbing her, according to police reports. Fingerprints on the cups led to the identification of the suspects.

    The kitchen knife wielded by Karari Ritchie during the stabbing came from his home, prosecutors said.

    During testimony on Thursday, an assistant medical examiner outlined Johnson’s injuries, which led to her bleeding out before her body was discovered.

    Johnson, 39 at the time of her death, was a mother of three who had worked at Taco Bell for 20 years before her death. Ritchie had worked for her before, so she probably trusted him when he arrived that Aug. 10.

    Her husband, Herbert Johnson, has diligently attended each court hearing, telling the South Florida Sun Sentinel in 2015 that he intends to be present for every step of the case.

    Ritchie is represented by the Broward Public Defender’s Office. Defense lawyers took the uncommon step of deferring their opening statements until after the prosecution rests its case, which is expected to take place Monday. The lawyers declined to comment about their overall strategy Thursday.

    Ritchie’s brother has not been called to testify against him.

    https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/cr...214-story.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  4. #4
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Jury finds man guilty of killing Taco Bell manager in 2009

    Aman was found guilty Thursday of killing Taco Bell manager Tikkitress Johnson in 2009 as she begged for her life.

    The same jury that convicted Karari Ritchie will be back in court in April to decide whether he should pay for the crime with his life.

    Deliberations in the capital murder case took more than 10 hours over two days.

    No one testified for the defense, and attorney Joseph Burke focused his closing argument Wednesday on perceived lapses in the investigation that brought Ritchie and his brother, Tesfaye Ritchie, to the attention of investigators.

    The brothers were identified by fingerprints on the cups they were served by Johnson when she let them into the restaurant on Aug. 10, 2009.

    According to prosecutors, the brothers posed as job applicants, and Johnson let them in before the restaurant opened. After they received their drinks, they robbed Johnson, prosecutors said.

    Tesfaye Ritchie pleaded no contest to a first-degree murder charge in 2014 and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

    But prosecutors say Karari Ritchie, now 29, bears greater responsibility for killing Johnson.

    Johnson was on her hands and knees pleading for her life when Karari Ritchie allegedly determined that she was a witness who could not live, prosecutors have said.

    The account came from Ritchie himself in a statement that was not allowed to be presented to the jury.

    But jurors did hear Ritchie ask a detective whether God would forgive him for what he had done.

    The kitchen knife wielded by Karari Ritchie during the stabbing came from his home, prosecutor Shari Tate said.

    Johnson, 39, was a mother of three who had worked at Taco Bell for 20 years before her death. Ritchie had worked for her before.

    Ritchie’s brother was not called as a witness.

    Broward Circuit Judge Dennis Bailey set a tentative April 22 date for the penalty phase to begin. It should take less than a week, Bailey said.

    The jury’s recommendation for death would have to be unanimous in order for Bailey to send Ritchie to death row.

    Otherwise, he will receive a mandatory life sentence.

    https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/cr...221-story.html
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  5. #5
    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Posts
    2,740
    (I can't post the article from the link as I'm from europe. If someone can post the article and delete this, it would be appreciated).
    https://www.tribpub.com/gdpr/sun-sentinel.com/

  6. #6
    Senior Member CnCP Legend
    Join Date
    Oct 2018
    Posts
    2,243
    Man who killed restaurant manager avoids death penalty

    AP

    FORT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man convicted of killing a fast food restaurant manager a decade ago has avoided the death penalty.

    The Sun Sentinel reports that a Broward County jury recommended life in prison Friday for 30-year-old Karari Ritchie. He was convicted in February of first-degree murder. A jury’s recommendation for death must be unanimous.

    Investigators say Ritchie and his brother posed as job applicants in 2009 at an Oakland Park Taco Bell, where 39-year-old Tikkitress Johnson was the manager. Ritchie stabbed Johnson 86 times during a robbery.

    Defense lawyer Rachel Newman says Ritchie was abused by his mother as a child.

    https://apnews.com/a371e089ae124ef0abbbd007de57e3a9

  7. #7
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mastro Titta's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2018
    Location
    Prato, Italy
    Posts
    1,275
    Karari Ritchie has been sentenced to life in prison on 06/28/2019

    http://www.dc.state.fl.us/offenderSe...&TypeSearch=AI

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •