Prosecutors seek death for Taco Bell murder suspect
The man accused of killing Taco Bell waitress Tikkitress Johnson in 2009 had a question for detectives who were interrogating him.
Would God forgive him, Karari Ritchie asked.
Assistant State Attorney Shari Tate opened Ritchie’s murder trial in Broward with that account, and after a week of testimony she and fellow prosecutor Whitney Mackay are close to wrapping their case in front of a Broward jury.
Ritchie, 29, is charged with a single count of first-degree murder and faces the death penalty if convicted. His brother, Tesfaye Ritchie, pleaded no contest to the same charge in 2014 and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
But prosecutors say Karari Ritchie bears greater responsibility for killing Johnson.
Johnson was on her hands and knees, begging for her life, when Ritchie allegedly determined that she was a witness who could not live, and stabbed her multiple times. The brothers talked their way into the Taco Bell restaurant in Oakland Park before it opened on August 10, 2009, by pretending to be job applicants, according to prosecutors.
Once inside, they accepted soft drinks from Johnson, a manager, before robbing her, according to police reports. Fingerprints on
the cups led to the identification of the suspects.
The kitchen knife wielded by Karari Ritchie during the stabbing came from his home, prosecutors said.
During testimony on Thursday, an assistant medical
examiner outlined Johnson’s injuries, which led to her bleeding out before her body was discovered.
Johnson, 39 at the time of her death, was a mother of three who had worked at Taco Bell for 20 years before her death. Ritchie had worked for her before, so she probably trusted him when he arrived that Aug. 10.
Her husband, Herbert Johnson, has diligently attended each court hearing, telling the South Florida Sun Sentinel in 2015 that he intends to be present for every step of the case.
Ritchie is represented by the Broward Public Defender’s Office. Defense lawyers took the uncommon step of deferring their opening statements until after the
prosecution rests its case, which is expected to take place Monday. The lawyers declined to comment about their overall strategy Thursday.
Ritchie’s brother has not been called to testify against him.