BEAUMONT, Texas — A 52-year-old Beaumont woman who was convicted of fatally stabbing her boyfriend 24 years ago will be going back to prison for the stabbing death of another boyfriend.
Testimony began Tuesday in the murder trial of Naomi Loutricia Johnson, 52, of Beaumont, for the 2020 stabbing death of her boyfriend, Kevin Royce McMahon, 48, of Beaumont.
The prosecution was still presenting its case Thursday when, before lunchtime, Judge John Stevens ruled that the jury would be allowed to hear about her fatally stabbing her boyfriend 24 years ago. Immediately after Stevens made his ruling Johnson changed her plea to guilty.
Stevens then sentenced her to 30 years in prison as part of a plea agreement and she will get credit for time served since the murder.
She could have faced from 15 years to life in prison if she had been convicted.
"People like you shouldn't even be in this room," McMahon's mother said to Johnson in a victim impact statement. "Life doesn't mean anything to you!"
She admonished Johnson, telling her all she had to do was let her son go but that she chose not to. Johnson broke her family circle she said.
"I want you to live every day knowing what you did," she told Johnson. "I want you to live every day knowing how you took my child from me," she told Johnson.
Opening statements
During opening statements on Tuesday, prosecutor Mike Laird, told jurors they will hear from the first officer on the scene who will tell them about finding McMahon’s body covered in dried blood.
The officer will also tell them about finding a large amount of dried blood on the floor and bloody footprints in the house, Laird told jurors.
Jurors will also see bodycam video that captured Johnson telling them she had drank poison and everything happened because she was being abused Laird told jurors.
Defense attorney Audwin Samuel told jurors, in his opening statement, that McMahon, who had been ordered to stay away from her, surprised her in her home. He was there and he was angry, Samuel told jurors.
He told jurors they would hear about how Johnson grabbed a knife and when McMahon charged at her, he ended up getting stabbed in the stomach.
Samuel told jurors they will also hear that Johnson reacted to protect herself from imminent danger. He also said that McMahon had accused her of trying to get him sent to prison.
Background
After a 2004 trial that resulted in a hung jury, Johnson was convicted of murder and sentenced in 2006 to 35 years for the December 2000 stabbing death of her then-boyfriend, Terry Boulwen. Her conviction was overturned on appeal in 2008 and she was granted a new trial.
Before her retrial, she pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison and was released on parole in January 2013 according to state records.
She was on parole on the night of the 2020 murder.
In 2020, on the night of McMahon's murder, detectives arrived at a home on Booker St. in Beaumont and noticed the porch light off and a bloody footprint outside the front door.
After going inside, police saw a very large amount of dried blood covering the entryway and leading into the living room, with more footprints in the dried blood, according to a probable cause affidavit in the case.
On the cushions of each piece of furniture was a dried substance that appeared to be vomit, according to police.
On the coffee table, detectives saw a note written on a white paper envelope that was written as a possible suicide note and signed, Naomi.
Next to the note, was a set of three knives in different sizes. The smallest knife had been removed from the package.
Johnson was inside the residence and was transported to the hospital after paramedics said she attempted to take her own life by ingesting rat poison and other substances found at the scene such as a bottle of antifreeze coolant and a black bottle of drain cleaner.
Detectives then found the body of McMahon near a bedroom with a large laceration/puncture wound on his lower right abdomen.
They believe he had been dead for an "extended period of time."
McMahon was found with a white, powdery substance on the left side of his stomach, according to the affidavit.
On the dresser in the room where McMahon was found nearby and where Johnson was taken by EMS was two cups of liquid, one red and one
yellow.
Johnson admit to EMS personnel that she tried to kill herself and told officers she was abused by McMahon, according to the affidavit.
Detectives determined that both Johnson and McMahon lived together at this residence and frequently argued, according to neighbors and family members.
The last time McMahon was seen alive was the afternoon of June 27, 2020, according to the affidavit.
All doors and windows to the home were locked and no signs of forced
entry were noted by responding officers.
Detectives viewed photographs of Johnson taken the night of the murder and noticed she had a bruise on her leg and scratches to her left, inner wrist and neck that looked recent.
The scratches appear to look intentional and possibly done with a knife tip, according to the affidavit.
Detectives also noticed dried blood on the bottom of her feet while looking at the photos.
Due to evidence at the crime scene and information gathered, detectives believe Johnson intentionally and knowingly stabbed McMahon to death,
She did not seek medical attention for McMahon and tried to take her own life by ingesting poisonous substances, according to the affidavit.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.