CMPD searches for person of interest after remains of mother, 2 children found in apartment

CHARLOTTE — UPDATE: The suspect wanted in connection with the death of a mother and her two children has been arrested in California. See additional details at this link.

Earlier

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is looking for a man after they identified the remains of a mother and her two children that were found Friday inside a north Charlotte apartment.

Officers were conducting an investigation at the Orchard Trace apartments off North Tryon Street when they discovered the remains.

ALSO READ: Human remains found where mother, 2 kids, were reported missing

The complex in northeast Charlotte is where the mother and her two children were previously reported missing on March 3, according to police.

CMPD sent out an alert on March 8 saying that 22-year-old Markayla Johnson and her two children, four-year-old Miracle and seven-month-old Messiah, were missing. Police said Markayla Johnson hadn’t contacted any known family members, and they were concerned about her welfare.

Human remains found where mother, 2 kids, were reported missing CMPD officers discovered human remains at the Orchard Trace apartments on March 15, 2024.

That public advisory resulted in more leads, which were investigated, CMPD said.

“Once those leads were exhausted, detectives with CMPD’s Missing Persons Unit had probable cause for a search warrant to search the victim’s last known location,” CMPD said Saturday.

On Friday, a search warrant was executed, which revealed the three victims had been deceased inside Johnson’s apartment.

On Saturday, police announced that the remains were presumptively identified as Markayla Johnson and her children. The remains were sent to the medical examiner’s office for confirmation.

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Person of interest

Police are searching for a person of interest.

“She was in a relationship. That is the person we are looking for,” said Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings.

The motive is a mystery, especially surrounding the kids.

“Well, I’m not sure how much a seven-month-old can be a witness, but at the same time, I don’t want to speculate about the reasoning behind any of these murders,” Jennings said. “It’s too early to tell and those are some things that he might be the only one that can answer those questions for us. That’s why we are working very hard to locate this individual and get these questions answered.”

The boyfriend was not the biological father. However, the family believed that Markayla Johnson cared for him a great deal.

“People would take advantage of her because she was so kindhearted,” said Markeysha Johnson, Markayla Johnson’s mother.

The family is pleading with the public to help police find the boyfriend.

“I just want to say, I miss my baby,” said Markeysha Johnson. “I miss my grandkids. She was a good person and everybody knows Kayla would do anything for you. She didn’t deserve this. She did not deserve this. She was such a loving person. Everybody knew that.”

The boyfriend’s name and description have not been released. Police want to try to find him on their own for now. If detectives need help from the public, they will release more details.

The investigation is active and ongoing, and details are limited at this time.

This is a developing story. Check back with wsoctv.com for updates.

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