Suspect’s girlfriend used benefits card of the victim who was dismembered in NYC

D’Asia Johnson was a victim twice: once by the person who hacked up her body and stuffed it into suitcases inside her Brooklyn apartment, and then again by the other girlfriend of the leading suspect, who has been using her benefits card ever since.

The gruesome information became publicly known on Monday in a Long Island courtroom when Justin Williams, 23, appeared to face charges for bail jumping, grand larceny, and felony assault that were unrelated to Johnson’s murder. He was dressed in a black T-shirt with long sleeves that said “Savage” across the front of it.

Brittany Gurrieri, an assistant district attorney in Nassau County, disclosed in court that Williams is a person of interest in the gruesome murder of his girlfriend, Johnson.

On September 21, the remains of the victim, who was 22 years old, were found packed inside two bags at her apartment on Linwood Street near Atlantic Avenue in the Cypress Hills neighborhood. Her corpse was discovered with a meat cleaver nearby.

According to the findings of an autopsy performed by the city’s medical examiner, Johnson suffered numerous stab wounds to her body before being dismembered.

It was previously reported by insiders within the NYPD that Williams, Johnson’s ex-boyfriend, was a person of interest in the brutal murder; however, his identity was not made public at the time.

Williams was taken into custody by the New York Police Department on Sunday and then turned over to the authorities in Nassau. In addition, on Sunday, the New York Police Department shared photographs of six individuals—five males and one female—whom they wanted to identify and interrogate. According to the reports, all of them are witnesses who may be helpful in developing the case against Williams.

It was not immediately apparent if Williams’ second girlfriend, who is also the mother of his children, would be detained. No information on the specifics of the purchases made with the Electronic Benefits Transfer card has been made public.

Johnson had been reported missing for several days before her mutilated body was found. Neighbors had called the police because of a foul odor.

Williams, who is a resident of Harlem, made his appearance in the Nassau County Criminal Court on Monday, dressed all in black and reeking of body odor.

He is accused of stealing nearly $1,200 worth of merchandise from a Walgreens in Westbury along with three accomplices in the month of June 2020, and he is also accused of assaulting a 66-year-old man in a Freeport laundromat in the month of June 2021 after the man had gotten into an argument with one of his girlfriends.

According to the documents filed in court, Williams was accused of bail jumping after he failed to appear in court on April 25.

On Monday, he entered a plea of not guilty and was ordered to be detained on bail in the amounts of $125,000 for the assault at the laundromat and $25,000 for the grand theft at Walgreens.