'Precious souls': Family members remember children whose remains were found in car trunk in Baltimore County

BALTIMORE Larry Darnell ONeil III was inseparable from his sister.He loved to ride in the car with his grandfather, and play at the park. Larry's paternal grandmother LaQuata M. Pits OFeil of Ohio remembered Sunday. Joshlyn Marie James Johnson enjoyed baking cookies and cakes with her sister.The grandmother said that they were wonderful children. They were sweet, soft-spoken, and well-mannered.A routine traffic stop in Essex saw the bodies of the boy, Little Larry, and his seven-year-old half sisters found in the trunk. According to the charging documents, Joshlyn's body was found inside a suitcase for over a year.In connection to the deaths of the children, Nicole Michelle Johnson was charged by Baltimore County Police. Multiple charges were brought against Nicole Michelle Johnson, 33, for neglecting to report the deaths of both her children and disposing of their bodies. She also faces child abuse charges that led to the children's death. Police said that the state medical examiners are still trying to determine the cause and manner of their deaths. Johnson is currently being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center, Towson without bail.According to court documents, Johnson was caring for the children since 2019, when their mother Dachelle Johnson moved to Maryland from Ohio. Johnson told detectives that she could no longer care about the children.According to court documents, Dachelle Johnson stated that she tried many times to contact her sister and her children. According to court documents, Dachelle Johnson told detectives that she had made arrangements to meet her sister in March to pick up her children. However, they never arrived. Police said that she had not been able to contact them since then and that a detective informed her of their death.Nicole Johnson, a homicide detective, said that she got angry at Joshlyn while she was staying at the Regal Inn in Rosedale on Pulaski Highway. She hit Joshlyn several times and caused the child to knock her head on the ground. According to police documents, Johnson said that she put Joshlyn's body in a suitcase and then drove away.Continue the storyAccording to the charges, Johnson also stated to detectives that Larry had told him two months prior that he was tired. He had laid down and slept and never woke up. Johnson said that he had a cut on his left leg, but could not elaborate on the cause. According to documents, Johnson said that she placed Johnson's body in a bag and kept it in the car with his sister's decomposing body.Their grandmother, a boy's grandmother, described them as being very close. ONeil stated that when Larry visited his family without his sister, Dachelle would frequently call and Joshlyn would be there, shouting and calling for him. Little Larry would insist on going home to check on his sister.She said that he didn't even know he was three years old at the time. He kept repeating, "My sister needs me." It was a heavy burden on his heart.Ohio's family of boys is left to wonder what happened and if they could have done more for the sake of their two children.ONeil stated that the family learned about the death of the children through a Facebook post from Dachelle Johnson.The grandmother of 45 said that she had already set up a GoFundMe account before we knew. My son was not even informed by anyone. He knew his son was dead long before he realized it, and it was all over the globe.Johnniqua Carter, Johnniqua's boyfriend, says that communication between Dachelle and her family has been difficult. It became less frequent when Dachelle moved from Dayton, Ohio, to Baltimore two years back.Carter stated that ONeil Jr. would only see the boy once a month. However, they would make the most out of their time together by going to the park, playing with toys, and eating at restaurants. She shared that Little Larry loved wrestling with his uncle and dad, and he also loved PJ Masks.Carter stated that Carter spoke with ONeil Jr., his father, days before she found out the boy had died. He is currently in prison and will be released in three months.She said that he had already left the room while we were talking about him.Larry's family used to get pictures of the kids and would sometimes video call. As time passed, contact with Larry's family began to wane.Pleas to be allowed to return to Ohio, where there was family to provide housing and money, were not answered. LaQuata ONeil stated that promises to call were often ignored or met with replies like the children were asleep, playing in the yard, or at an uncle's house.The family stated that there was no mention of Nicole Johnson's children living with her.They would die in a million years, I thought to myself, my grandmother said between sobs.LaQuata ONeil stated that, after reading that the children were undernourished, police reported that the 7-year old weighed 18 pounds while the 5-year-old was 21 pounds. She has been looking through photos on her phone to check if she missed anything.The one thing that she can't get out is the words of Little Larry, her aunt who died a few decades ago: I don't want to sleep in a sky.