FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, November 19, 2021
Woman Arraigned on Indictment for Shooting Death of
Another Woman in Crown Heights
Defendant Allegedly Shot Victim in Head, Then Fled the Scene; Extradited from Florida
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a woman has been arraigned on an indictment in which she is charged with second-degree murder for fatally shooting Delia Johnson in the head at point blank range last August, killing her.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This was a cold-blooded execution of a woman who was a beloved mother, daughter, sister and friend, who did not deserve to have her life taken away from her. The defendant has now been apprehended and we will seek to bring her to justice for this senseless and tragic killing.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Claudia Banton, 42, of Allenwood, Georgia. She was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Vincent Del Giudice on an indictment in which she is charged with second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. The defendant was ordered held without bail and to return to court on January 26, 2022. She faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted of the top count.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on August 4, 2021, at approximately 9:40 p.m., the defendant allegedly approached Delia Johnson, 42, from behind as she chatted with a group of people in the vicinity of Franklin Avenue and Prospect Place in Crown Heights. The defendant allegedly shot Johnson in the head, and then shot her again as she fell to the ground. The defendant then allegedly fled in a vehicle that was double parked nearby.
The defendant was apprehended in Jacksonville, Florida, on November 8, 2021 by United States Marshals. She was returned to New York yesterday.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Lauren Silver, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Timothy Gough, Bureau Chief.
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An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.