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Man Indicted In Kidnapping, Killing Of Ex

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By VALERIE KALFRIN

vkalfrin@tampatrib.com

Published: January 10, 2009

TAMPA - In the hours after he killed the mother of his child, Vincent George Brown Jr. recorded an eerie greeting on his cell phone and went to a party in East Tampa - driving the victim's car, police said Friday.

In the cell phone greeting, according to police, Brown says, "I did what I had to do, and it's done. Y'all will probably never see me again. Just don't forget about me."

A grand jury on Thursday indicted Brown, 39, on felony first-degree murder and kidnapping charges in the strangulation of his ex-girlfriend Jennifer Johnson, the mother of his 2-year-old daughter, Je'Neiyce. The indictment was unsealed Friday because Tampa police have a warrant for Brown's arrest.

Brown is serving 13 months in a state prison for violating probation in an unrelated drug case. Now in Chipley, he will return to Hillsborough County to face the new charges in the next week, police said.

Relatives of Johnson, 31, reported her missing Nov. 15 after she didn't show up for her daughter's birthday party. She was found strangled in an abandoned house in Lakeland on Nov. 18.

"It would be the biggest surprise in the world if it wasn't him," said Tony Singleton of Dermatec Direct in Tampa, where Johnson sold medical supplies for six years.
Tampa police Maj. George McNamara said the investigation is active. He would not specify whether police have other suspects.

Johnson was seen arguing with Brown on Nov. 14 at a Tampa nightclub, police said. She also was seen at his parents' house about 3 a.m. Nov. 15, the same day at least two people saw Brown driving Johnson's black 1996 Infiniti I-30 after leaving a party in East Tampa, an affidavit states.

About 5:30 a.m. Nov. 15, Plant City police received a 911 call Johnson placed from the trunk of a car. Police dispatched a unit to the area where cell towers indicated she was but couldn't find her.

Phone records indicate that from about 8:15 a.m. Nov. 15 until the phone ran out of power, its signal was pinging from a cell phone tower about 500 yards from where her body was found.

Reporter Josh Poltilove and News Channel 8 reporters Samara Sodos and Krista Klaus contributed to this report.

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