The mother who killed her boyfriend, pushed her children out of a moving car, and then crashed into a tree on Monday was once a well-known astrologer, who was extremely terrified of an impending "apocalypse" that she believed would be triggered by an eclipse, according to a new report.
Danielle Johnson, who is known online as Danielle Ayoka, was a well-known astrology influencer with a massive fan following of 106,000. In the days leading up to the tragic murder-suicide that unfolded across several Los Angeles neighborhoods, she warned her followers to "wake up" and "pick a side," according to law enforcement sources cited by the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday.
Weird Beliefs Playing in Mind
"WAKE UP WAKE UP THE APOCALYPSE IS HERE. EVERYONE WHO HAS EARS LISTEN. YOUR TIME TO CHOOSE WHAT YOU BELIEVE IS NOW," Johnson tweeted last week that was viewed 600,000 times.
"IF YOU BELIEVE A NEW WORLD IS POSSIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE RT NOW. THERE IS POWER IN CHOICE. THERE IS POWER IN CHOICE!!!! REPOST TO MAKE THE CHOICE FOR THE COLLECTIVE"
Three days later, just hours before the eclipse was expected to occur over California, Johnson murdered two of her loved ones and attempted to kill her oldest daughter before taking her own life in an early-morning massacre, according to the police.
Both Johnson, who described herself as a "divine healer," and her boyfriend had no documented record of domestic violence or calls to the police. Investigators suspect that the extensive bloodshed was driven by Johnson's delusional paranoia about the end of the world, according to sources cited by the LA Times.
Johnson had urged her followers to shield themselves from the eclipse, which she described as the "epitome of spiritual warfare."
Johnson, who provided online self-help and healing sessions for a mere $2.99, was known to spread antisemitic posts and conspiracy theories about natural phenomena on X platform.
She went as far as likening the New Jersey earthquake to white supremacy and accused the government and media of trying to conceal what she believed to be an impending apocalypse.
"THESE ARE ALL THE WAYS THEY HAVE BEEN PROGRAMMING US WITH LIES!!! LOOK AT THESE TO UNDERSTAND THE AGENDA THIS IS REAL THIS IS SPIRITUAL WARFARE," she wrote.
Not in Her Senses
The healer, who also sold R&B songs, was previously a media darling, having been profiled by Refinery 29 and The Fader, both of which praised her clairvoyant abilities. In 2016, Refinery 29 lauded Johnson for her "brilliant gift" in exposing the falsehoods of various sun signs.
Johnson's last known activity on social media was apparently on Sunday afternoon, just hours before police believe she fatally stabbed her 29-year-old boyfriend, Jaelen Allen Chaney, in the heart while he was seated on the couch of their upscale Woodland Hills apartment.
According to sources cited by the LA Times, evidence indicates that Johnson tried to drag her boyfriend's body out of their apartment but ultimately abandoned the effort, leaving his body in the kitchen.
She then loaded her two daughters into her Porsche Cayenne and drove through a security gate as she fled the scene.
At around 5 a.m., Johnson threw out her 9-year-old daughter from the moving vehicle onto a freeway, while the child held onto her 8-month-old baby sister, as per authorities. Although the older child survived the fall and managed to avoid traffic, the infant was found dead at the scene.
Johnson's body was found around 5:30 a.m. several miles away from the initial scene, inside a mangled car that had collided with a tree at speeds exceeding 100 mph.
It took an additional two hours before authorities were alerted to the apartment where the violence occurred, allowing them to unravel the gruesome sequence of events.
Upon investigation, authorities found a trail of bloody footprints leading from the open apartment door. The scene was also strewn with black feathers and tarot cards, according to sources.
Police initially said that Chaney and Johnson were involved in a verbal altercation when Johnson grabbed a knife around 3:40 a.m. The partial eclipse occurred about seven hours later, visible across California.
It's believed that the 9-year-old child, the only survivor of the tragic incident, may have witnessed her mother fatally attacking Chaney.
Johnson took her own life more than 30 miles south of where Chaney was murdered.
Investigators are still trying to ascertain whether the baby had died before being thrown from the car.
