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Phoenix man sentenced to life for killing of Maricopa woman Angela Russo

PHX man gets life in Maricopa woman's killing
PHX man gets life in Maricopa woman's killing
Posted at 1:14 PM, Oct 06, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-07 00:11:18-04

A Phoenix man faces life in prison on convictions for first-degree murder in the 2016 killing of a Maricopa woman at the apartment he shared with his girlfriend, whom he blamed for the killing.

Lashawn Young Johnson was sentenced Friday in Maricopa County Superior Court in the killing of 24-year-old Angela Russo, whose body was found in a shallow grave in Tonopah.

Johnson and Russo had met through a dating website and family members alerted police after she didn't return from a planned date.

Johnson acknowledged seeing Russo the night she disappeared and being in the area where her body was found but denied killing her.

He contended his girlfriend had killed Russo after finding her in the apartment that Johnson shared with the girlfriend.