'No Mercy:' Two Life Sentences Plus 25 Years in Rape, Strangulation Case
Prosecutor says Michael Johnson, who was charged but acquitted of the 2010 murder of Phylicia Barnes, told girlfriend during the attack that she and other victim would would be together in death.
Saying he'd shown his victim "no mercy," a Baltimore County judge sentenced Michael Johnson to two life terms plus 25 years in prison Monday for raping, strangling and torturing his then-18-year-old girlfriend.
"You violated her in ways unimaginable and left physical and emotional scars that will haunt her for the rest of her life," Circuit Court Judge Jan Alexander said, adding that Johnson forced his victim to re-live the brutal assault when she testified against him in court. "You showed her no mercy."
The judge told Johnson, 42, that he was a danger to both his victim and the public.
"Just as (she) shall carry what you have done to her for the rest of her life, I sentence you accordingly to the maximum penalty allowed by law," he said.
Prosecutors said at trial that Johnson, of York, Pennsylvania, attacked the young woman over several hours in her Rosedale apartment, repeatedly choking her into unconsciousness and sexually assaulting her.
At Monday's sentencing hearing, Assistant State's Attorney John Magee revealed that Johnson referenced a 2010 murder case while attacking his girlfriend.
Johnson was accused of murdering 16-year-old Phylicia Barnes in Baltimore City in 2010. After years of legal proceedings and multiple trials, he was acquitted in 2018. Investigators at the time said they believed Barnes likely died from strangulation following a sexual assault.
Magee said the victim in the current case reported that Johnson "talked about the prior murder case, and said he was going to 'send me right to her.'"
The day after the attack, Magee said, the victim told a sexual assault nurse that Johnson threatened to kill her "just like he did another woman" and said they would be together once she was dead.
A Baltimore County jury in April found Johnson guilty of two counts of first-degree rape and one count of first-degree assault. The jury acquitted him of attempted first- and second-degree murder charges.
Johnson, who has been jailed since his arrest on July 1, 2024, asked Alexander before sentencing to grant him a new trial. Standing in court in an orange jail jumpsuit, Johnson said he had wanted to testify at trial but that his attorneys would not allow him to do so.
"I feel as though, especially with this case, both sides need to speak about what really happened," he said, adding that the victim's testimony was "all over the place."
Alexander said Johnson was experiencing "buyer's remorse" and denied the motion.
Defense attorney Amy Stone asked Alexander to merge the rape and assault sentences because the convictions all arose from the same incident.
"We feel that ... it is part and parcel of the same domestic incident from July 1," Stone said.
Alexander sentenced Johnson to life in prison for each first-degree rape conviction and 25 years for first-degree assault. The sentences are to be served consecutively.
The small courtroom in the circuit court building in Towson was packed, with all eight rows of benches filled by family members and supporters of both the rape victim and Barnes. Some quietly cheered when the sentence was announced.
A family member read the victim's impact statement in court, describing the betrayal and trauma she experienced after being assaulted by someone she trusted.
"What Michael did to me was not just a crime," she wrote. "It was a violation of my body, my trust, my sense of safety and my peace of mind."
As a teenager in foster care, she wrote, she had been seeking stability, acceptance and love.
"I longed for someone who genuinely cared about me, someone who loved me and someone I could trust."
She wrote that she believed Johnson was that person and allowed herself to be vulnerable because she trusted him.
"That trust was shattered in the most devastating way imaginable," she wrote.