WGNO

Man accused of killing pregnant woman, child faces first-degree feticide charge

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — A 20-year-old man faces murder charges in connection to the deaths of a woman and her young son.

On Friday, March 11 at 2:40 p.m., BRPD officers were dispatched to Old Hammond Hwy regarding a missing person complaint. The missing person, 24-year-old Kaylen Johnson, and her two-year-old son Kaden Johnson had not been seen or heard from since Saturday, March 5, according to police.

The family was able to perform a wellness check at Kaylen’s home where there were no signs of foul play and continued to try to call her phone, however, it was disconnected, according to an affidavit.

Police said Kaylen’s vehicle was later found parked with the license plate removed.

On Monday, March 14 at 4:30 a.m., Kaylen’s boyfriend, 20-year-old Brynnen Murphy, went to the police and led detectives to the victims’ bodies after having denied any knowledge of Kaylen’s whereabouts days earlier, according to arrest documents.

Photo courtesy of the Baton Rouge Police Department.

Murphy has been charged with first-degree murder and first-degree feticide. On Wednesday he was moved from EBR Prison to West Baton Rouge Parish Jail due to safety reasons.

On Tuesday, the EBR Coroner released autopsy findings which determined Kaylen and Kaden’s manner of death as a homicide. The coroner’s findings indicated that Kaylen was shot multiple times and Kaden is suspected to have died from hypothermia.

The investigation is ongoing.