Quincy, FL: Woman Is Murdered, Daughter Is Held For Her death! ...
Slimpickins
Quincy
Police are questioning her daughter in beating
By JEFF BURLEW
Tallahassee Democrat
A nurse was found slain early Tuesday in her Quincy home and
two
teen-agers, including the victim's daughter, were being held
for
questioning.
Earline Johnson, 42, a nurse at Tallahassee Memorial
Hospital, was
found in her kitchen with multiple head injuries, according
to Quincy
police spokeswoman Brenda Williams.
Johnson had been struck in the head with ceramic figurines
and a
telephone and cut with a knife, Williams said. An autopsy was
scheduled for today to determine the cause of death.
Family members of Johnson's found her around 6 a.m. after a
family
friend contacted them and asked that they check on the woman.
The
friend had spotted Johnson's daughter and the girl's
boyfriend riding in
Johnson's 1993 Pontiac Bonneville after 1 a.m. Tuesday in
Havana.
One or both of the teens were seen with blood on them in the
car,
according to Williams. Neither had been charged by late
Tuesday.
It was unclear what prompted the killing, but Williams said
it may
have stemmed from a disagreement.
"They had a dispute is all we know right now," Williams said.
"And
this was their answer."
The teens were taken into custody about 11 a.m. after police
tracked
them down at a residence in Gretna. Johnson's car was found
off a
Gadsden County road, according to Williams.
"It had been driven into a pine thicket on purpose to hide
it," Williams
said.
The slaying shocked neighbors and co-workers at the hospital,
where
Johnson had worked in the diabetic unit.
"The staff is just very upset," said Alfonzo Sparks, a
nursing
supervisor. "Earline was a fantastic person and a fantastic
nurse."
Ruth Brinkley, a next-door neighbor, said Johnson was "a fine
lady
and a good neighbor. She wouldn't bother nobody, just speak
to you
nice and go on."
Brinkley said Johnson's husband had been killed in a car
accident
some years ago.
Another neighbor, Elizabeth Reggins, said Johnson was a hard
worker
who regularly attended church.
"If she's not at church, she's at work," Reggins said. "She
was a good
person, a quiet person. I feel bad about it because this is
the first time
something like this has happened on this street, and I've
been here 24
years."
Jeff Burlew is a reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat.
Contact him
at jbu...@taldem.com .