Mikeona Johnson: Phillip Charles Howze Found Guilty in South Los Angeles Killing

LOS ANGELES — After years of advocacy, frustration and unanswered questions, the family of Mikeona Johnson has secured a conviction in her killing, bringing a measure of justice to a case they say authorities were too quick to close.

Johnson, a South Los Angeles mother, was reported missing in 2021. Her disappearance sparked concern among family members who say they immediately suspected foul play, particularly involving her then-partner, Phillip Charles Howze, with whom she lived.

A week after she was reported missing, Johnson was found dead inside her car near a local school.

Despite the circumstances, Johnson’s family says they had to push law enforcement for years to continue investigating the case after it was at one point deemed closed and cold.

That changed in 2023 when Howze former roommate came forward with new details. Authorities arrested Charles in 2024.

This week, after about a week of testimony, a jury found Howze guilty in Johnson’s killing. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 15.

Johnson’s mother, herself a two-time survivor of domestic violence, tells the Voice of Black Los Angeles that she refused to let the case go cold.

“I knew I had to fight for my daughter,” she said.

According to testimony, the roommate told investigators that Howie said the morning of the killing that Johnson “had to go.” The roommate said he initially believed Howze meant Johnson needed to move out of the home.

At the time, several children were living in the residence, including Johnson’s two daughters — one of whom she shared with Howze — as well as the roommate’s autistic son.

The roommate said he feared Howze, who had threatened him, and followed instructions to take the children out of the house that evening. He said he took them to a Dollar Tree store so the older children would not hear what was happening inside.

However, he said the youngest child remained in the home.

When the roommate returned, he said he sat outside with his son and placed headphones over the child’s ears as Johnson screamed for help from inside the house.

“When she stopped screaming,” the roommate testified, “I went inside.”

He then helped Howze move Johnson’s body to her car. The two men drove the vehicle to a nearby school and left it there, authorities said, as Johnson’s family spent more than a week searching for her.

Johnson’s mother has expressed anger that the roommate has not been charged as an accomplice, despite his role in moving the body and being present during the killing.

She is also calling for additional charges, including abuse of a corpse. According to testimony, Howe sexually assaulted Johnson after her death using an object taken from the home.

For Johnson’s family, the case underscores broader issues of intimate partner violence and femicide affecting Black women in Los Angeles.

She urges other families seeking justice for loved ones to remain persistent.

“Keep pressure on authorities,” she said. “You have to be the voice for your loved ones, because they can’t speak for themselves.”