On the evening of August 4, 2021, in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, 42-year-old Delia Johnson attended a candlelight vigil for a recently deceased friend. At about 9:40 p.m. on Franklin Avenue near Prospect Place a woman approached Johnson from behind, drew a firearm, and shot her in the head at point-blank range. As Johnson fell, the assailant fired several more shots and then fled in a nearby double-parked vehicle, leaving mourners in fear and chaos.

Surveillance footage captured the attack and the New York Police Department opened an investigation into the execution-style killing. Investigators identified Claudia Banton, 46, as the person seen in the video and a manhunt began that led to her arrest months later. The family described Delia Johnson as a beloved mother, daughter, and sister; her mother, Delia Berry, said she had once considered the suspect like a daughter.