An astrology influencer allegedly driven by fears about the solar eclipse went on a horror killing spree, stabbing her partner to death and pushing her children from a moving car before killing herself by ramming her vehicle into a tree.
Danielle Johnson, 34, went on the violent rampage in Los Angeles on 8 April – the same day that a rare phenomenon of a total solar eclipse plunged parts of the US into darkness.
In the days leading up to the attack, Johnson took to social media to voice her beliefs that the solar eclipse would be the “epitome of spiritual warfare”.
Posting under the name “Ayoka”, the astrology influencer had over 100,000 followers and often reposted conspiracy theories and antisemitic-filled rhetoric on her page.
Prior to Monday’s rampage, she had posted messages on X telling people to “wake up; the apocalypse is here” and warning her followers that they needed to “pick a side”.
In the early hours of Monday morning, hours before the eclipse, police said she went on a killing spree.
The Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement that, at around 3.40am on Monday morning, Johnson got into a verbal fight with her live-in partner Jaelen Chaney, 29, at their home in the 6200 block of Variel Avenue.
The fight escalated when Johnson became violent, stabbing Chaney to death.
Johnson then allegedly took her two young children, aged nine and eight months old, and fled the scene in a dark-coloured Porsche SUV.
The Porsche was seen driving down the 405 Freeway near Howard Hughes Parkway.
At around 4.30am, the two children were then thrown out of the vehicle while it was moving.
The nine-year-old survived but sustained moderate injuries from the fall.
LAPD Lt. Guy Golan told Fox11 that the eight-month-old was hit by oncoming traffic in the middle of the road and died on the scene.
“As the 9-year-old fell into the middle of the freeway, she injured herself and dropped the infant,” Mr Golan said.
“And then, in a race to get out of the freeway and not get hit by traffic, the nine-year-old managed to get to the shoulder successfully, but the infant was struck by traffic. And so the infant succumbed to her injuries in the middle of the freeway there.”
Johnson then carried on driving, accelerating the vehicle to a speed in excess of 100 miles per hour, before crashing into a tree in the city of Redondo Beach at around 5am.
Johnson died from her injuries.
Now, the nine-year-old is the sole survivor of their mother’s horrific killing spree.
A few hours later, at around 7.35am, Chaney’s body was found at the couple’s home when neighbours noticed that the front door was open.
Police said a neighbour went in to check on the family and found Chaney dead in the apartment.
A neighbour told ABC7 that she discovered the horrific scene when she spotted a trail of blood leading to Johnson’s home.
“Their door was wide open, there was blood on the floor leading into their apartment, and then a trail of it in the hallway leading up to the elevator, and I saw some blood on the walls,” the unidentified neighbour said.
Police have not yet clarified what motivated Johnson to carry out the killing rampage.
Mr Golan told The Associated Press that while investigators have reviewed her social media posts, they are not considering the eclipse to be a contributing factor “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,” he added.
LAPD investigators said that Chaney and Johnson had been dating for around three years and were living together, with Mr Golan adding that there had been no prior incidence of domestic violence ever reported between the couple, CBS reported.