Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of murder and child abuse. Please read with caution.
Danielle Johnson, an astrology influencer known to her online followers as Danielle Ayoka, is accused of brutally murdering her boyfriend in Los Angeles on April 8, 2024 before throwing her two children from a moving vehicle.
Johnson’s motive for the crime is unclear, but in the days prior, she shared strange posts about the 2024 solar eclipse on social media. Early that morning, her neighbors heard a fight between Johnson, 34, and her boyfriend, Jaelen Allen Chaney. According to the LAPD, Johnson stabbed Chaney to death sometime that morning and tried to remove his body from their apartment in Woodland Hills, California, leaving a trail of blood in her wake. Johnson then returned Chaney’s body to the apartment, where he was later discovered by a neighbor.
According to Johnson’s neighbor, tarot cards were in the apartment, and the door was open. “…[T]here 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 neighbor said.
Danielle Johnson sped away with her two daughters
Before Chaney was found, Johnson took her two daughters, age nine and just eight months old, and sped away from the apartment complex in a Porsche at around 4:30am that morning, reaching speeds of more than 100 mph. Johnson’s nine-year-old daughter reportedly had her younger sister in her arms.
According to LAPD lieutenant Guy Nolan, Johnson opened the passenger side door and told her daughters to get out, but the nine-year-old refused. “[Johnson] then forcibly pushed her out of the vehicle, in the middle of the freeway, while moving,” Nolan said. The nine-year-old survived the fall, but the 8-month-old was pronounced dead at the scene. Johnson later rammed her car into a tree. She was dead when EMTs arrived.
Danielle Johnson’s eclipse social media posts
With Danielle Johnson gone, it may never be known what precipitated the double murder-suicide. In the days leading up to her death, she made disturbing social media posts about the 2024 solar eclipse, saying on April 4 in a post on X that the eclipse was “spiritual warfare.” The next day, she shared the following:
“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.”
via Danielle Johnson/X
One comment offered an unconfirmed but reasonable explanation for Johnson’s clear and tragic mental break, attributing it to a possible case of postpartum depression or psychosis. The comment said:
“I hope y’all know that postpartum depression is real for everyone and no one is exempt. But because she’s was black — she’s held to a different standard, I’m sure. May she find what she needs as well as her husband and children. 💔 Give her grace as you would any other woman.”
via Dahmeneekah/X
According to AB7NY, the LAPD has interviewed Johnson’s friends and family for more information about what happened.