Man accused of killing brother, mom in murder-suicide responsible for 2020 killing: CPD

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - A 19-year-old who allegedly killed his younger brother and their mother last week in an Avondale double murder-suicide is also responsible for a 2020 deadly shooting.

Eric Johnson Jr., 19, died by suicide on Feb. 3 after Cincinnati police say he killed his 16-year-old brother Rodrigo Johnson and their 38-year-old mother Darlene Flores at their Canyon Drive home.

On Monday, police and the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office determined Johnson Jr. was responsible for the killing of 18-year-old Serreno Foster in 2020, according to a press release.

Foster was found in a car in the 3600 block of Canyon Drive around 11 a.m. Dec. 12, 2020, Cincinnati police said.

The 18-year-old was found with a gunshot wound and died at the scene, CPD explained.

Now, more than two years later, Cincinnati police said the case is closed as Johnson Jr. is now dead.

Foster’s mother, Tangie Hardy says the double-murder-suicide would never have happened if Johnson were arrested in her son’s case.

“This is not justice for my son,” she said. “This is closure for my family, yes... But look at how many lives are affected. It’s sad, really.”

Hardy says it’s a harder pill to swallow after the murder-suicide last August where Eric Johnson Sr., father of the 19-year-old murder suspect, allegedly killed his 6-year-old daughter before dying by suicide himself.

“To hear his whole family was annihilated in less than a year, it’s devastating, and it’s heartbreaking. Because... had they arrested him, I feel like a lot of lives would’ve been spared.”

Hardy calls the last few years an “emotional roller-coaster” following the death of her son, with whom she says she talked every day.

“We’ve all been trying to uplift each other, stick together and show each other love, but it hasn’t been easy,” she said. “We just want peace and harmony and love. We don’t want anyone else to suffer any more losses.”

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