Woman Gives Graphic Testimony in Baltimore County Rape and Strangulation Trial

TOWSON — Jurors on Tuesday listened to hours of often tense and graphic testimony from the young woman at the center of a rape and attempted murder trial in Baltimore County.

The alleged victim, now 21, recounted her meeting with Michael Johnson, 42, of York, Pennsylvania, and their dating relationship that spanned over a year. She described in detail the night on July 1, 2024, when he allegedly attacked, raped, and repeatedly choked her until she passed out.

“ This went on and on and on,” said prosecutor Dianna Abramowski-Liberto.

Johnson faces charges of first-degree rape, attempted first-degree murder, and assault.

In her opening statements, Johnson’s defense attorney Amy Stone said the case against her client primarily relies on the victim’s account. Stone said the incident constitutes second-degree assault but not rape or attempted murder.

“I submit to you that you will not find her overall account, her narrative, consistent enough to be found reliable to convict Mr. Johnson of any of those charges,” Stone said.

The young woman testified in Baltimore County Circuit Court for most of the morning and into the afternoon. During cross-examination, she became visibly frustrated and stepped down from the witness box, leaving the courtroom for approximately ten minutes before returning to the stand.

Johnson, dressed in a dark suit and crisp white shirt, maintained a neutral expression at the defense table. This was not his first time facing a jury. Johnson was previously the primary suspect in the 2010 killing of 16-year-old Phylicia Barnes in Baltimore City. He was ultimately cleared and the case against him dismissed after years of multiple trials.

Investigators at the time said they believed Barnes likely succumbed to strangulation following a sexual assault.

The woman from the July 2024 assault testified Tuesday that she had accidentally met Johnson the previous year. She mistook his car for a ride-share vehicle and entered his red Tesla Model 3 on Fulton Avenue in Baltimore. Despite the misunderstanding, he took her home, but not before giving her $40 and exchanging WhatsApp information, she recalled.

From that point on, a relationship developed.

“I liked his vibe,” she said. The young woman said she did not know how old Johnson was.

Over the next year of dating, Johnson took her to restaurants and hookah lounges. They went on trips together to Miami, the Bahamas, and Puerto Rico. She often stayed at his home in York. The victim, who said she’d gone into foster care at 14, was living alone at the time of the assault on Marquette Road in Rosedale in an apartment provided by the state agency.

The night of the assault, she said Johnson had been drinking and had taken psychedelic mushrooms. She had smoked marijuana and taken a small piece of the mushroom as well, she said.

The two had argued, she said. He’d accused her of talking to a boy on the phone. Then he started texting other women in front of her, she said. She said she went to her bedroom and texted him, telling him to leave, which he did. When she checked the parking lot to be sure he was gone, he’d left a teddy bear at her mailbox.

Later that night, as she was lying on her bed, talking on the phone, and playing a video game, someone came from behind her, sat on her back, and started choking her. At first, she testified, she didn’t know who it was. Eventually, she said, she realized it was Johnson.

She said the attack caused her to urinate several times, leading Johnson to stop his attack temporarily each time it happened.

“He was just playing with me,” she said. “He just wanted me to be tortured. That’s what I felt like, because he was not trying to end it.”

She testified she bit her tongue when Johnson put her in a headlock. When police arrived after being called the following afternoon, her tongue was so swollen she could barely speak. Blood vessels in her eyes had burst, turning most of the whites of her eyes a blood-red. Her face was swollen. 

“I woke up and looked at my face in the mirror,” she said. “I didn’t recognize myself.”

On cross-examination, the witness had trouble remembering details of the hours-long event. Defense attorney Amy Stone pointed out inconsistencies in her testimony compared to her interviews with police about details, including what she was wearing and who she called the following day. 

The young woman grew visibly upset.

“When I’m trying to explain stuff to you, you cut me off, like this isn’t MY story,” she told Stone, shortly before abruptly leaving the witness stand and walking out of the courtroom.

Jurors were sent out for a few minutes while prosecutors talked with the woman in the hallway. She returned and was able to continue with cross-examination and complete her testimony. 

The trial will resume Wednesday morning and is expected to take five days.