Minutes after helping her change a flat tire, 35 year old Shawndarius Deonte Johnson got into the car with the mother of his children and stabbed her repeatedly in front of their 3-year-old daughter.
On August 20, 2026, a Bibb County jury convicted Johnson on all counts, Aggravated Assault and Cruelty to Children in the Third Degree, for the August 2, 2021, attack on the victim at Northwood Apartments in Macon.
Johnson and the woman shared three children and had recently ended a years-long relationship, co-parenting amid ongoing tension. On the morning of the attack, which was the first day of school, Johnson helped the victim with a flat tire before getting into her car to say hello to the kids. An argument broke out. Johnson pulled a knife and stabbed the woman repeatedly in the torso and arms while their 3-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son sat in the backseat.
The victim fled the car and collapsed near a stairwell. Johnson briefly ran on foot before returning to his car and driving away. Neighbors who heard the attack helped investigators establish the timeline, and multiple witnesses identified Johnson’s car fleeing the scene.
The couple’s daughter who is now eight years old, still remembered the stabbing. She told a witness afterward that her father had hit her mother and repeated what she saw during a forensic interview at a child advocacy center. She also testified at trial, telling the jury clearly what she had seen. When Johnson told investigators he did not know who had stabbed Sinclair, prosecutors pointed out that his daughter did.
The court sentenced Johnson to 20 years to serve, the maximum allowed. He is barred from contacting the woman and her children.
“This verdict happened because an entire community of witnesses came forward and told the truth, from courageous neighbors who did not hesitate to come forward, to a brave young child who took the witness stand and told a jury what she saw happen to her mother,” said Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney Anita Howard. “Cases live or die on witness and victim cooperation. When you pair a thorough investigation with witnesses who corroborate each other, you give a jury everything it needs to reach the right verdict. That is the recipe for a higher measure of justice. This little girl showed more courage on that stand than most adults ever have to. We are grateful to her, to her mother, and to every witness who helped hold this defendant accountable.”
This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney M. Kamran Zahid and investigated by former Bibb County Investigator Omar Sanders.
