A Break-in Similar to Johnia's

From James Rummel, who trains violent crime victims in self defense;

I told him that the next student I had accepted after he graduated was a woman who had been asleep in her bed at home. Her 4 year old son had suffered from a nightmare so she was snuggling with him in her bed. A home invader stopped off in her kitchen for a knife before walking into the bedroom and waking them both up rather roughly. Luckily he was just interested in robbing them and no one was hurt.

I know that some people are incredulous that an intruder would grab a knife from Johnia and Jason's kitchen and head for the bedroom. (My wife has trouble believing it.) But those sorts of things happen. Criminals do dumb things, particularly when they're drugged up or in withdrawl.

Media coverage

Johnia's case was aired on February 22nd on WATE in Knoxville and WJHL in Johnson City.

WJHL's Josh Smith interviewed Johnia's roommate, Jason Aymami, her mother, Joan Berry, and also spoke with State Senator Ron Ramsey about DNA legislation. WATE's Lori Tucker spoke with Joan about her fight in making sure that Johnia's killer is brough to justice and also about Knox County Sheriff Tim Hutchison.

CDs left in the apartment

There has been a lot of discussion about the CDs that were found in Johnia's apartment. The discs didn't belong to Johnia or Jason, so the obvious conclusion would be that they were left by someone else, possibly the killer. I'm posting the images here again. If anyone has information about these discs, please call 865-215-2243 or email confidential@johniaberry.org or homicide@knoxsheriff.org

The Ali Kemp Case

An anonymous commentor linked to this ABC News story about Ali Kemp. Kemp was a 19 year old who was murdered while working at a neighborhood swimming pool. Her murderer was found in large part thanks to a billboard asking for leads.

Knox County Sheriff

Nearly 15 months have passed since Johnia was murdered and we've done everything in our power to make sure the responsible person is brought to justice. We have handed out fliers, paid for billboard space, and have tried to gain as much exposure as possible through the media. Nancy Grace has highlighted the case on a number of occasions, local media outlets have been generous in their coverage, and America's Most Wanted is more than willing to profile Johnia's case.

So, even though we've been doing a lot, one thing we would like to do is have a meeting with Sheriff Tim Hutchison. Sure, the Sheriff met with Mike and me on one occasion, but now many months have passed and our countless calls to the Sheriff's office have garnered absolutely no response from Mr. Hutchison.

The detectives working on Johnia's case have been in steady contact with us since December 6th, and we would like to thank each of them, but there are times when we have questions and concerns that only the Sheriff can address. Does Mr. Hutchison feel that it's not worth his time to return our calls or meet with us because we don't live in Knoxville?

Our family continues to struggle through the grief of losing Johnia, especially when the responsible person is still out there somewhere. We will not give up our fight to bring the murderer to justice.

We sincerely appreciate your prayers and support that many of you have shown in person, and on this site. Your comments do not fall on deaf ears. We hear you and are grateful for your support.

We certainly need help in this extremely difficult time. We need Johnia's killer to be captured so we can begin to mend what's left of our lives.

- Mike and Joan Berry

Google Maps

Here's a Google Map to the apartment where Johnia was killed.

And here's the distance from the apartment to the Weigel's convenience store where Johnia's roommate ran when he fled the apartment. Google gives the distance as 0.7 miles sticking to the roads, but I've clocked the realistic distance starting from Warren House (where he tried to get someone, anyone to call police) and it's between four and five tenths of a mile.