Upper East Side shooting: Azsia Johnson reported domestic violence but police ‘failed’ her, says mom

Young mother was pushing stroller

Eric Adams blames 'oversaturation of guns' after 20-year-old mother shot dead

Azsia Johnson, the young mother who was shot and killed while pushing her three-month-old baby in a stroller in New York City, had reportedly made multiple domestic violence complaints to police prior to her execution-style murder.

Ms Johnson’s heartbroken mother accused the police of failing to protect her 20-year-old daughter from her allegedly abusive ex-boyfriend, with investigators now searching for the baby’s father as a person of interest in her slaying.

Ms Johnson – an aspiring nurse and mother-of-two – was walking with her infant near 95th Street and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper East Side at around 8.30pm on Wednesday night.

Police said a hooded gunman approached from behind and fired a single shot to her head at point-blank range, killing her. The baby was unharmed.

The victim’s family reportedly told investigators that Ms Johnson was planning to meet the baby’s father that night.

The NYPD has refused to confirm the baby’s father is the person of interest but said investigators are exploring domestic violence as a possible motive.

The shooting unfolded in one of the city’s most affluent neighbourhoods and just blocks from a playground, just days after the Supreme Court loosened US gun laws.

Key points

• Azsia Johnson had filed at least two domestic violence complaints
• Victim’s mother urges killer to ‘turn yourself in'
• Vigil planned for Thursday night in honour of Azsia Johnson
• Baby’s father named as person of interest, say reports
• Victim remembered as aspiring nurse and ‘best’ mother to two children
• Victim planned to meet baby’s father night she was killed, says police source

[30 June 2022 21:00 · Rachel Sharp]

Azsia Johnson had filed at least two domestic violence complaints

Azsia Johnson had filed at least two domestic violence complaints in the two years before she was gunned down in Manhattan on Wednesday night.

A law enforcement official told The Daily Beast that the 20-year-old had filed the complaints against more than one man.

The identities of the men were not revealed and it is unclear how the authorities responded.

The NYPD said the murder of the 20-year-old mother is being investigated as a possible domestic incident, while Ms Johnson’s family said that the father of her three-month-old child is a person of interest being sought for questioning.

Lisa Desort, Ms Johnson’s mother, said that the baby’s father had abused her daughter when she was pregnant and that she and her daughter had alerted the police.

But the authorities failed to protect her daughter, she said.

[30 June 2022 21:30 · Rachel Sharp]

Victim’s mother urges killer to ‘turn yourself in'

The mother of 20-year-old Azsia Johnson has urged her daughter’s killer to “turn yourself in” as her two young children have now been left without their mother.

Lisa Desort sent a message to the gunman who shot her daughter dead, urging him to seek counselling.

“I treated you like a son. I welcomed you into my home. I spoke to you and calmed you down when you were upset. I fed you. Your baby girl does not, and no longer, will have a father or mother,” she told NBC News.

“Turn yourself in. This is what we have been telling you – turn yourself in. Go to counselling. You didn’t have to hurt my daughter. We could have been a family.”

Ms Desort said that the father of her daughter’s three-month-old child is wanted for questioning by police after he allegedly assaulted Ms Johnson and threatened her when she was pregnant.

The NYPD has not named a suspect but has identified a person of interest. Police have not released the identity of the person of interest.

[30 June 2022 22:00 · Rachel Sharp]

Surveillance footage captures gunman pacing moments before shooting

Surveillance footage has captured the gunman pacing around the area just moments before he shot and killed the 20-year-old victim.

Police sources told NBC News that video footage had been recovered from in and around the crime scene, showing the suspect pacing in front of a residence just before he carried out the execution-style attack.

Azsia Johnson was also captured in footage pushing the stroller with her baby inside.

[30 June 2022 22:30 · Rachel Sharp]

New York lawmakers hold emergency meeting on gun laws

New York lawmakers are holding an emergency meeting on state gun laws after the US Supreme Court relaxed firearm restrictions across the country at a time of rising gun violence and mass shootings.

The meeting, held on Thursday afternoon, was called so that the state could comply with the ruling from the nation’s highest court while still keeping gun control measures in place.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said on Wednesday – hours before the shooting of Azsia Johnson – that guns will be banned from private businesses unless owners specifically post a sign out front reading: “Concealed-carry weapons welcome here.”

Hospitals, day-care centres, parks, zoos, playgrounds and public transit are also expected to be classed as sensitive places where concealed carry is banned.

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that the state’s gun law requiring people to have “proper cause” to carry firearms in public was unconstitutional.

[30 June 2022 23:00 · Rachel Sharp]

Mother blasts authorities for failing to protect daughter

Azsia Johnson’s mother has blasted New York City authorities for failing to protect her daughter after she allegedly filed multiple reports of domestic violence against her ex-boyfriend while pregnant with their child.

Lisa Desort told NBC New York that her daughter called her on 1 January – when she was six months’ pregnant – and said she was being abused by the baby’s father.

“She was scared to call the police so she gave me the address. I called police,” she said.

She said that the police responded and her daughter moved in with her.

But, Ms Johnson kept being threatened and harassed by her former partner.

Ms Desort said they reported the threats to a detective but were told that no crime had been committed.

The 20-year-old ended up moving into a domestic violence shelter because they feared that the ex knew where her mother’s house was.

Ms Desort said she feared that the baby’s father would hurt or even kill her daughter.

“I tried to protect my daughter in every way. She had to leave my house, she couldn’t live there because he knew where I lived,” she said. "I kept telling her, ‘He’s no good.’"

[30 June 2022 23:30 · Rachel Sharp]

NYC council member says she requested cameras be installed at site of shooting

New York City council member Julie Menin said that she called for surveillance cameras to be installed in the area one week before the shooting of Azsia Johnson.

Ms Menin tweeted on Thursday that she had requested cameras be installed at the Isador E Idor Straus and Lower Lab School in response to the mass shooting at a school in Uvalde, Texas, last month.

The New York school is just steps from the scene of Wednesday’s shooting.

“Our community is traumatized by the horrific fatal shooting of Azsia Johnson walking her baby next to the park + buildings of PS 198/PS 77. Just last week, I sent a letter requesting cameras be installed at that building, one of 2 remaining in our District without cameras,” she wrote.

“While security cameras could not have prevented this awful shooting, it is important that these safety measures are installed immediately.”

[1 July 2022 00:00 · Rachel Sharp]

Baby’s father identified as person of interest, reports say

The father of the three-month-old baby being pushed in a stroller when the child’s mother was shot dead has been identified as a person of interest in the murder, according to police sources and family members.

A law enforcement official told New York Daily News that 20-year-old Azsia Johnson had sent text messages to her family saying that she was planning to meet up with the child’s father on Wednesday night.

The man – who has not been publicly named – had allegedly assaulted the victim while she was pregnant and she was unsure if she now wanted him in their child’s life, the official said.

The victim was pushing her three-month-old child in a stroller through the Upper East Side just before 8.30pm when she was approached by a hooded figure and shot at point-blank range in the head.

The perpetrator fled the scene.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story:

[1 July 2022 00:30 · Rachel Sharp]

Azsia Johnson moved out of home to get away from ex, says mother

Azsia Johnson moved out of her family home to get away from her ex-boyfriend and the father of her baby, according to her grieving mother.

Lisa Desort told NBC New York that her daughter moved back in with her after the baby’s father abused her when she was pregnant.

But the 20-year-old ending up having to leave her home too because her ex knew where she lived, she said.

“I tried to protect my daughter in every way. She had to leave my house, she couldn’t live there because he knew where I lived,” she said.

Ms Johnson ended up moving into a shelter for victims of domestic violence. She was living there – just a few blocks from the scene of the shooting – when she was killed.

[1 July 2022 01:00 · Rachel Sharp]

Vigil to take place soon in honour of Azsia Johnson

A candlelight vigil will begin soon in honour of Azsia Johnson.

The vigil will take place on East 95th street between Lexington and Third Avenue, close to the scene of the horrific shooting on Wednesday night.

It is scheduled to start at 8.30pm, the same time that the 20-year-old victim was gunned down while pushing her baby in a stroller through the area.

NYC Council Member Julie Menin, whose district covers the Upper East Side area where Ms Johnson was shot and killed, welcomed community members to come to the vigil in a post on Twitter.

“Please join us tonight for a candlelight vigil at 8:30pm on East 95th street between Lexington and Third Ave as our community mourns the tragic fatal shooting of a young mother,” she tweeted.

[1 July 2022 02:00 · Rachel Sharp]

Shooting comes days after Supreme Court loosened gun laws

Wednesday’s murder came just days after the US Supreme Court struck down a New York gun law and paved the way for loosened gun laws across the country.

In a 6-3 ruling, the justices ruled that a New York law requiring people to have a “special need” to carry a firearm in public was unconstitutional.

Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas said in the majority opinion: “We know of no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need.”