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By
Jakob Rios [former]
- March 30, 2022
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A defendant accepted a plea deal for the murder of a pregnant woman in January.
On Jan. 19, 27-year-old Sierra Johnson was in the driver’s seat of her car, stopped at a red light on the 2500 block of Georgia Avenue, NW. Joseph Fox was in the front passenger seat.
According to the prosecution, Fox pulled out a silver handgun and fired at Johnson four times. Her two children were in the car, both of whom were less than five years old. Bullets were found lodged into the children’s car seats.
Fox, 27, took a plea deal for one count of second-degree murder and two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon. The prosecutor and defense attorney, Elizabeth Weller, agreed to recommend a prison sentence between 14 and 21 years.
Fox pleaded guilty during a March 29 hearing. After he did so, Johnson’s mother addressed the court.
Reading from a note, the victim’s mother said the murder did not make sense to her. She choked up describing her daughter’s life and how great of a mother she was. She asked DC Superior Court Judge Milton Lee why Fox was pleading guilty to second-degree murder when the crime seemed more like first-degree murder to her.
While Judge Milton Lee gently advised her to confer with the prosecuting attorney about the charges in the plea, he told her he would take her statement and any future victim impact testimony into consideration when deciding on a sentence. He inquired on the family’s availability when looking for a sentencing date, which he set for June 17.