Boyfriend charged with murder, feticide in deaths of missing pregnant woman, her son

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The man accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend and her young son is charged with two counts of murder and one count of feticide.

Detectives arrested Brynnen Murphy, 20, on Monday, March 14, in connection with the disappearance and deaths of Kaylen Johnson, 24, and her 2-year-old son, Kaden Johnson, whose bodies were found earlier that day.

He was initially booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on two counts of first-degree murder.

A judge decided on Tuesday, March 15, that Murphy will be held with no bond on two counts of first-degree murder. A charge of first-degree feticide was added on Wednesday, March 16.

Jail officials in East Baton Rouge Parish said Murphy was transferred to the West Baton Rouge Parish Prison for his safety.

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Family members say the boyfriend is the father of the woman’s unborn child. Police said Murphy is not Kaden Johnson’s father.

Police said Murphy turned himself in Monday to the First District Precinct on Plank Road.

“Throughout the interview process, he gave us the information as to both being deceased and the locations as to where they were,” said Sgt. L’Jean McKneely with BRPD.

The family of Kaylen Johnson asked for Baton Rouge Police Department to do a wellness check on March 11 since she and her son had not been heard from since March 5.

According to the arrest warrant, when officers made it inside the apartment, they found no signs of foul play. The family still tried reaching Johnson but her cell phone was disconnected and the call could not be made.

The report went on to state officers learned Johnson was in a relationship with Murphy and when questioned, he denied knowing the whereabouts of Kaylen and her son.

Police said it is believed the pair disappeared on March 5, “based off information we collected from Murphy.”

According to BRPD, there were many things that led them to believe foul play was involved.

“It was suspicious in nature. We found her car without the license plate on it. And from there, it raised an eyebrow. One of the guys made contact with him, he refused to give information, and from there, he disappeared,” added McKneely.

Saying they were acting on a tip connected to the case, detectives started searching a wooded area along Burbank Drive near Lakeside Daiquiris around 9 a.m. Monday, March 14.

Around 12 p.m., they discovered one body, an adult, at the Burbank Drive scene. Within minutes, police found a second body along Central Thruway in Central.

BRPD’s spokesman said there is no word yet on why Murphy killed them.

“We tried to interview him and get some information. He didn’t give us any,” said McKneely.

According to the arrest warrant, Murphy contacted officers at the 1st District Police Station and was detained and transported to the VCU for detectives to conduct an interview.

The report went on to state Murphy led the detectives to the location of both the bodies.

“Very tough, tragic situation. Uniform officers are affected by this, homicide investigators are affected by this. Everybody in the community is affected by this,” said Sgt. McKneely.

After examining the bodies, police believe the victims could have been dead for at least a week.

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