Inset: Johna Lowe (Columbus Division of Police). Background: The house where a boy was found dead in an attic (Google Maps).
An Ohio woman will spend at least 15 years behind bars for the murder of her then-girlfriend’s 8-year-old son, authorities announced.
In late June 2024, 8-year-old Martonio Wilder was tragically found dead in the attic of his home. His body had been concealed inside a trash bag within a sleeping bag on Olmstead Avenue in Columbus’ Milo-Grogan neighborhood.
On Thursday, 24-year-old Johnna Lowe received a life sentence with the possibility of parole after admitting guilt to charges of murder and gross abuse of a corpse in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.
Under Buckeye State law, the condemned woman is eligible for parole after serving 15 years of her sentence.
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The events that led to the young boy’s death likely spanned several months before he succumbed. Authorities got involved on June 28, 2024, when Martonio’s mother, LaShanda Delores Wilder, 33, contacted the police to report him missing.
An Amber Alert was out on the airwaves but quickly called off.
During the ensuing investigation, police found the child’s body in the attic — and were immediately suspicious about his manner of death.
Lowe and Wilder allegedly fled the house soon after the missing persons report was filed, police say, amid an initial search. Once officers brought a cadaver dog, however, Wilder allegedly became “uncooperative” and said she did not want the canine inside. So, the boy’s mother left with Lowe and her two other children.
Then, after being forced to secure a search warrant and finding the victim’s remains, investigators were even more keen to speak with the two women. They turned themselves in the next day.
An autopsy report determined the little boy’s manner of death was homicide caused by “asphyxia by anterior neck compression.”
There were also signs of systematic abuse. The medical examiner noted the victim also suffered blunt trauma to his head as well as severe malnutrition in dehydration. At the time of his death, he only weighed 35 pounds and was all of 49 inches tall. The coroner also noted he had “severe loss of muscle mass.”
After the couple were indicted, the Franklin County District Attorney’s Office alleged a history of abuse. Martonio was often locked in a closet to be kept away from food, prosecutors said, according to an in-court report by Columbus-based ABC affiliate WSYX. The victim was also occasionally beaten and choked with an extension cord.
Two days before the child was found dead, he was beaten with a crutch and locked up in a coat closet, Lowe allegedly told detectives, according to The Columbus Dispatch. This was, she said, in line with the “unusual punishments” meted out to the little boy.
“He was full of life,” Martonio’s great-aunt told the TV station outside the Franklin County courthouse. “He was so bright. He loved everybody. He just wanted to be loved. He would give you a hug.”
Martonio’s cousin also spoke to WSYX — noting that the warning signs had long been present.
“She always kept him in the corner,” she said. “He was always in the corner, and everyone else was playing. What did he do now? Oh, he stole. What did he steal, food? He is probably hungry.”
But those signs, the child’s cousin noted, apparently were not enough for child welfare authorities to act upon.
“I can’t take your child from you because you keep your kid in timeout too long,” the cousin added. “I can’t take him from you even though I know you’re feeding the other two kids more than you’re feeding him.”
Franklin County Children’s Services had been working with the family since May 2022, WSYX reported. The agency said they offered numerous support services to Martonio’s mother in that time period — during which police were also a constant presence. Law enforcement appeared at the home at least 13 times in the year-and-a-half leading up to Martonio’s death.
In the end, those episodic state interventions weren’t enough.
As part of her plea before the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Lowe received 342 days of pre-trial detention credit.
Wilder is currently slated to appear in court on July 15.
