LA astrology influencer and murdered partner argued so much even the mailman noticed, neighbour says
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A Los Angeles astrology influencer who stabbed her partner to death, allegedly due to fears over the solar eclipse, argued with him so frequently that even the mailman in her apartment complex noticed, neighbours have said.
Danielle Johnson, 34, went on a violent rampage in LA on 8 April – the same day that a rare phenomenon of a total solar eclipse plunged parts of the US briefly into darkness.
During the incident, she stabbed 29-year-old Jason Chaney, then fled with her young children down a busy freeway, where she suddenly pushed them into the road. Her nine-year-old daughter survived the horrific ordeal, but her eight-month-old sister was killed by oncoming traffic.
Their mother later died after crashing the vehicle – a dark-coloured Porsche SUV – into a tree.
Police say that the motive for the mother-of-two’s shocking actions was still unclear and that they had not received any reports of a domestic disturbance between the couple previously.
However, fellow residents at the apartment complex on Variel Avenue, in the Woodland Hills neighbourhood of Los Angeles, said Johnson and Chaney were “always arguing”.
Audrey Chavez, 24, said that the couple had been known to have regular loud arguments and that what occurred had “sadly” not been a huge surprise. Even the postman, she said, had reported hearing raised voices.
“I officially got notified once they sent out an email but before I got that I heard about the baby on the freeway, so it was already in my mind” she told The Independent.
“When I got that email notification I had already put two and two together, like everyone else was and then right after that we got another saying that there was a fatality (in the building).”
Ms Chavez said she had never personally met Johnson and Chaney, though she lives four units away from their apartment. She told The Independent that her ring camera had captured a lot of activity once Chaney’s body had been discovered.
“I have a ring camera and I live on the fourth floor. I’m literally four units down from where it happened so my camera got a lot of activity starting from 7am in the morning when the cops came,” she said.
“I didn’t catch anything that night… but as soon as the cops got here at 7am, the medical examiners, I started to see all that. The coroner came at 1pm. I saw them take the body out at like 1.45pm so yeah it was really busy that day.”
Ms Chavez added that even until Thursday night multiple local news outlets had been stationed outside, as well as YouTube streamers.
“I was even told by the mailman – I’m really close to the mailman – that even when he dropped packages, that couple was always arguing. The other neighbour too, they’re pretty young and we were talking about it,” she told The Independent.
“He said they were always arguing about it as well… I’ve never seen them but the people who are right next to them said we always heard them arguing. They were known for it.
“No one is really surprised I would say, sadly.”
Ms Chavez added: “I’d say that from what I heard about how they found him (Chaney), in socks and underwear, this wasn’t supposed to happen, like they were getting ready for bed.”
On Friday outside the complex, yellow caution tape was still in place around the gate that Johnson allegedly ploughed through in her Porsche SUV during her escape.
In the days leading up to the tragedy, the would-be spiritual healer and influencer warned her over 100,000 followers on X of an impending “apocalypse”. Her erratic posts urged people to get their hearts “in the right place” and “pick a side” ahead of a “new world order”.
LAPD detectives investigating the incident on Monday told The Associated Press that while investigators have reviewed Johnson’s social media posts, they did not consider the eclipse to be a contributing factor in her actions.
“We’ve taken all the facts we can, but without being able to interview her and without having something more tangible than a post on X, I don’t know how much weight you can give to somebody (saying) there’s an apocalypse and attribute it to one of the most horrific murders we’ve had in LA,” LAPD Lt Guy Golan said.
Following the incident other social media users replied to Johnson’s pinned post, warning of the apocalypse, and speculating over her mental state – with some suggesting she was suffering from “psychosis”.
Johnson’s nine-year-old daughter is the sole survivor of her mother’s horrific killing spree. The child was later placed in the custody of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.
According to Fox11, her father currently resides out of state, though may potentially take custody of her. Specifics of the arrangement remain unclear.
