PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The man convicted of first-degree murder in the strangulation of a beloved art student in Cobbs Creek was given an automatic life sentence on Tuesday.
Prosecutors showed a video from David Grier’s film class in which he acted out being strangled with a belt — a close resemblance, they say, to the way 21-year-old Kierra Johnson was murdered on Nov. 2, 2017. She was found the next day on the banks of Cobbs Creek.
Last week, a jury found 26-year-old Grier guilty of first-degree murder, as well as a weapons charge for the ligature that prosecutors say he used to kill Johnson.
First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence, but because of scheduling issues, it was postponed by a week and a day.
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Prosecutors say they proved their case with Grier’s DNA under Johnson’s fingernails, surveillance video of her final moments alive, and several witness statements about his demeanor.
Grier, who represented himself at trial, repeatedly tried to argue to the judge that the evidence prosecutors provided wasn’t enough: “You could not win a game of Clue with that evidence,” he said.
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Johnson was Grier’s friend who denied his advances, prosecutors said. They brought up Grier’s prior conviction in California, where they say he stabbed his brother and his roommate and bit a third person. A report read in court stated that when police responded, Grier asked them to shoot him. He is heard on body cameras saying, “I love her, I love her. I deserve to die for what I did.” There were no more details of the assault.
Grier was out on probation in California after serving one year for that stabbing conviction. Johnson’s mother, Sherri, said she is working on legislation that would prohibit defendants from being able to leave the state they are in if they are on probation.
Through Zoom, Sherri Johnson remembered her daughter as her best friend who was a “bright light” and “kind to everyone.” In her victim impact statement, she told Grier that he stole the one person who thought he meant something in this world.
“When you took her physical life, you stole my breath,” she added.
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Johnson’s father, Rus, told the judge that he “felt his heart physically break” after the murder of his only child and fell into a deep depression.
As he spoke, Grier began peppering Rus Johnson with questions about his statement to the judge, which began to upset him. Judge Barbara McDermott promptly stopped Grier for his “inappropriate” line of questioning.
McDermott agreed with the parents of the victim and told Grier that Johnson had given him “the gift of friendship. And in return, you strangled her and left her dead in a creek.”
Grier continued to maintain his innocence and said he plans to represent himself through his appeal, as he did in his trial.