Johnae McGowin

Johnae McGowin was a 22-year-old Black woman who worked as a teacher's aide in Chicago. She had attended Faraday Elementary School and Marshal High School. Those who knew her described her as a beautiful person.

On February 10, 2022, a concerned co-worker went to Johnae’s apartment in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood after she failed to show up for her job. Inside the apartment, located on the 2600 block of North Laramie Avenue, the co-worker discovered that Johnae was deceased. An investigation determined she had died the previous day, February 9, from a single gunshot wound to her head.

Detectives used surveillance footage and social media messages to track her final hours. The day before her death, a 20-year-old man named Marshawn Owens contacted Johnae through Facebook, claiming he had gone to high school with her. After they exchanged what prosecutors called “flirtatious messages,” Johnae gave him her address and a bus schedule. Surveillance cameras later captured Owens taking a bus, meeting Johnae on the street, and then entering her apartment building with her.

Owens’ girlfriend, 18-year-old Lonesha Strong, had access to his Facebook account and saw the messages he had exchanged with Johnae. Strong sent messages of her own to Johnae, but she did not receive a reply. Around 6:40 a.m. the following morning, surveillance footage showed Strong getting off a bus near Johnae’s home. She met Owens at the door to the apartment building, and they both went inside together. According to prosecutors, no one else was seen entering or leaving the building during the five minutes they were both inside.

Police arrested Owens and Strong, charging both with murder. Neither had a prior criminal record. Strong had graduated from Chicago Bulls College Prep with honors and was a freshman at Western Illinois University. Owens had attended the University of Illinois at Chicago for a year and worked for a social services agency. In separate, video-recorded statements to detectives, both suspects blamed the other for shooting Johnae.

Strong claimed she found the apartment door unlocked and walked in to find Owens and Johnae in bed together. She said she began arguing with Owens, which woke Johnae, who also became angry when she learned Owens was in a relationship. Strong alleged that Owens had the gun and said he was going to kill Johnae.

A judge denied bail for both Lonesha Strong and Marshawn Owens. As of their initial court appearance in March 2022, the case against them was ongoing.