A Kentucky resident, Daniel Scott Nantz, 33, was given a life sentence on Wednesday for the murder of his expectant girlfriend, due to fears she would reveal his drug trafficking activities, as disclosed in a Department of Justice (DOJ) press release.
The DOJ release indicated that Nantz was implicated in various methamphetamine trafficking conspiracies spanning Whitley, Knox, and Laurel Counties from March 2017 through March 2019. Nantz’s girlfriend, Geri Johnson, along with several other accomplices and methamphetamine suppliers, was indicted by a federal grand jury in the spring of 2019.
The statement explained that Nantz was increasingly alarmed about Johnson, 29, possibly collaborating with the police, thus potentially implicating him in an indictment. Before the murder, Nantz reportedly shared his worries with several witnesses, as well as with Johnson herself.
The press release stated that witnesses recounted an escalating pattern of violence by Nantz towards Johnson in the days leading up to her murder on March 16, 2019. Nantz was reported to have fatally shot Johnson, who was about 33 weeks pregnant at the time, twice in his secluded trailer.
On the day of the murder, Nantz reportedly told a witness that if Johnson was indeed informing the authorities, he would kill her. Phone records suggest that Johnson had been trying to escape from Nantz’s residence on the morning of the incident.
Nantz took Johnson to the hospital, but not before retrieving video footage from his surveillance system that captured the scene of the crime. At the hospital, Johnson was declared dead upon arrival, but medical staff managed to deliver her baby via an emergency C-section. The infant girl, named Amelia Jo Johnson, tragically died three days later due to brain damage resulting from severe oxygen and blood deprivation linked to her mother’s injuries.
In March of this year, Nantz confessed to killing a federal witness, which comes with a minimum mandatory life sentence and a $250,000 fine. Nonetheless, prosecutors asked for a harsher sentence citing Nantz’s destruction of evidence and Johnson’s vulnerability due to her advanced pregnancy, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Nantz was initially charged with additional crimes, including kidnapping, conspiracy to distribute meth, possessing a firearm during a drug trafficking crime, and possessing a gun despite a previous domestic violence conviction. These charges were dropped as part of a plea deal.
U.S. District Judge Robert E. Wier concurred with the prosecutors’ call for a more severe sentence, stating that in his 17 years as a federal judge, Nantz’s behavior represented the “very worst conduct” he had seen emanating from the meth trade.
Carlton S. Shier, IV, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, condemned Nantz’s actions, stressing that they underscored the violent and grave nature of the illegal methamphetamine trade.