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US astrology influencer, worried about solar eclipse, kills partner, baby: Reports
In an online post days before the incident, the woman referred to the impending solar eclipse as “the epitome of spiritual warfare.”
A US influencer, who identifies as an astrologer and claimed to be “worried about the end of the world with the eclipse,” allegedly stabbed her partner to death at their Los Angeles apartment, reports claimed citing a Los Angeles Times article. Subsequently, while speeding down the major 405 freeway before dawn on Monday, the influencer pushed her two children – one aged nine, the other only eight months – out of the moving vehicle before fatally crashing the car into a tree. Only the nine-year-old child survived the ordeal.
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The Los Angeles police said the 34-year-old woman, identified as Danielle Cherakiyah Johnson, used X as a platform to post content as an astrology influencer and recording artist under the alias “Ayoka”. In an online post days before the incident, she referred to the impending solar eclipse as “the epitome of spiritual warfare".
“WAKE UP WAKE UP THE APOCALYPSE IS HERE. EVERYONE WHO HAS EARS LISTEN. YOUR TIME TO CHOOSE WHAT YOU BELIEVE IS NOW. IF YOU BELIEVE A NEW WORLD IS POSSIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE RT NOW. THERE IS POWER IN CHOICE. THERE IS POWER IN CHOICE!!!! REPOST TO MAKE THE CHOICE FOR THE COLLECTIVE,” Danielle Johnson wrote on her X account three days before the deaths, on April 5.
On April 4, under her online pseudonym Danielle Ayoka on X, she posted, “Get your protection on and your heart in the right place.”
However, the Associated Press reported, citing an investigative official, that detectives have examined Johnson's posts. Yet, police are not deeming the eclipse to be a triggering or contributing element to the killings “because we just don't know why she did what she did".
“We’ve taken all the facts we can, but without being able to interview her and without having something more tangible than a post on X, I don’t know how much weight you can give to somebody (saying) there’s an apocalypse and attribute it to one of the most horrific murders we’ve had in LA,” Golan, who is head of the homicide unit investigating the case, said.
Killings happened this way
According to the AP report, authorities disclosed that Johnson and her partner, 29-year-old Jaelen Allen Chaney, engaged in an altercation around 3.40am on Monday at their Woodland Hills apartment, approximately 25 miles (42 km) northwest of downtown LA.
Following the altercation, Johnson allegedly stabbed Chaney and left the residence with her two children, an 8-month-old girl and her 9-year-old sister, in a Porsche Cayenne.
Subsequently, Johnson drove along Interstate 405 in Culver City and ejected her daughters from the moving SUV around 4.30 am, as stated by the police. The baby was pronounced dead at the scene, while the older daughter, who witnessed the stabbing, survived with moderate injuries.
Johnson continued her journey southwest to Redondo Beach, where approximately half an hour later, she was driving at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour (160 kph) and crashed into a tree. The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating whether the single-vehicle collision was potentially a suicide attempt.
(With inputs from AP, AFP)
