A senior law enforcement official confirmed the arrest to The Daily Beast, identifying the suspect as the baby’s father. Police have not officially released the name of the man, who was arrested by United States Marshals and the NYPD Task Force. The arrest comes two days after the brutal killing of 20-year-old Azsia Johnson sent shockwaves across the city. The young mom, an aspiring nurse, was shot in the head near the corner of Lexington Avenue and 95th Street Wednesday night by a gunman who appeared on surveillance video wearing a black hoodie and pants. He approached her from behind before firing the fatal shot. The official said Johnson was preparing to meet with the baby’s father that night and had texted a relative shortly before he was killed to say he could already see it in the area. “He’s here. I see him. He’s wearing all black,” the official wrote. Moments later, she was shot and her attacker, according to the official, began to remove his outer clothing as he left the scene. Police later recovered some of the items and arrested him in Brooklyn. Johnson’s family said they filed several domestic violence reports in the months before her murder, but no arrests were ever made. Law enforcement sources confirmed that she had filed multiple complaints about more than one alleged abuser. The senior official who spoke to The Daily Beast said Johnson’s suspected killer had previously been on the radar of law enforcement after an incident on New Year’s Day in which he allegedly threw her against a wall. He was gone by the time officers arrived, but the official said the man was issued a misdemeanor warrant, meaning he was wanted for questioning in connection with the alleged assault. He had not yet been arrested in the case at the time of the shooting. “We called every day to domestic violence [unit]. You know what they told me, it’s not harassment if he makes a threat,” Johnson’s mother, Lisa Desort, said at a vigil Thursday night for the slain young mom. “Now, my daughter is dead. She’s dead!” he cried. Investigators reportedly hosted one of Johnson’s exes shortly after her murder, with law enforcement sources telling the New York Post they were treating the killing as a “domestic” incident. “It was a target. It was a shot close to the head and there were powder burns,” a source was quoted as saying. Johnson’s mother addressed the man she believed was responsible for her daughter’s murder in comments to NBC New York: “I treated you like a son. I welcomed you into my home. I talked to you and calmed you down when you were upset. I fed you The little girl you he has not, and will have no more father or mother.” Johnson leaves behind the 3-month-old she was with at the time of her murder, along with a 1-year-old.
