Briteny Johnson

Name:
Johnson, Briteny Ann

Date of Booking:
03/11/2025

Reason(s) For Booking:
CRUELTY TO CHILDREN-DEPRIVATION OF NECESSARY SUSTENANCE – 1ST DEGREE

Officer’s Narrative:
[Please note: The following is a direct transcription from the official initial incident report. The Georgia Gazette does not fix any spelling or grammatical errors that may exist. Any changes or redactions made by our staff are placed inside brackets. Some errors may exist. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The topics discussed may be sensitive to some readers. Discretion is advised.]

On March 11, 2025 at approximately 0145 hours, I (PFC Blankenship) was dispatched to [500 BLOCK] W 13th St #[REDACTED] in reference to neighbors finding a 16 y/o girl, identified as [REDACTED BY AGENCY] out in the cold and alone. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] had advised the complainant, [WITNESS #1], that she had been purposefully locked out of her home for several hours.

Upon arrival, [WITNESS #1] pointed me toward [REDACTED BY AGENCY] who was shivering and had her arms wrapped around her body. I spoke with [REDACTED BY AGENCY] who told me that her mother had locked her out of the house because they were fighting. She told me that her mother, Briteny Ann Johnson, had cut her access to the wifi earlier and told her to go to the library to do her homework if she wanted ([REDACTED BY AGENCY] is suspended from school and is now being homeschooled). [REDACTED] advised that she and her younger brother, [REDACTED BY AGENCY] then went over to his friends apartment in the same complex to use their wifi. Britney then facetimed [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and told them to come back to the house. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] came back home, but [REDACTED BY AGENCY] stayed out–this was approximately 1000-1100 hours on 3/10/24. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] then advised that when she came back over and was outside her house, her mother began to confront her about not coming home and blamed her for [REDACTED BY AGENCY] leaving the house. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] advised that she stayed out after that and hung out with friends to avoid her mother.

When [REDACTED BY AGENCY] attempted to come back into the home once it had gotten late (approximately 2200-2300), no one would open the door to the apartment for her. She advised that after knocking, her brother [WITNESS #2] answered, asked if she needed anything, and told her that their mother said that she was not allowed back into the house tonight.

I spoke with her younger brother, [REDACTED BY AGENCY] who had left with her earlier, and he advised the same that their mother had told them they couldn’t be in the house all day and to leave. He advised they went over to his friend’s apartment in the same complex until their mom face timed him and told them to come back late in the morning. He advised that he came back and the [REDACTED BY AGENCY] stayed out. When I asked him about [REDACTED BY AGENCY] not being let back into the home tonight, [REDACTED BY AGENCY] told me that mom had said she couldn’t come back in because “she’s defiant”. He told me that mom was currently at work at Pruitt Health (2 Three Rivers Dr) and works nights.

I then spoke with the eldest son, [WITNESS #2], who told me that his mom works nights and that he is supposed to watch the younger siblings when she is gone. He works 2nd shift and his mother drops him off and picks him up for work before she later has to leave for her overnight job. [WITNESS #2] told me that [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and their mom fight and argue a lot and advised that [REDACTED BY AGENCY] has run off a lot in the past and refused to listen to their mom. He then told me that before his mom left for work, she told him in person that she was tired of kids running off and told him to not let [REDACTED BY AGENCY] back into the house tonight. He advised she did this because she was angry and tired of [REDACTED BY AGENCY] running off.

When I asked him if he understood that a 16 y/o girl couldn’t be left outside alone and in the cold, he nodded and agreed that he understood. He made statements indicating that he enforced what his mother had told him to do because he was afraid that if he defied her–she would put him out of the house. He advised that she has tried to do so before. [WITNESS #2] lives at home with his mom and helps watch his younger siblings and appeared at a loss for what to do when I was speaking with him.

I then asked him if he could contact Briteny with his phone so that I could speak with her and get her side of the story. He agreed and called his mom. When she answered, I asked her to tell me her side of the altercation. She advised that she wasn’t sure about the times because she sleeps during the day, but advised that she remembered getting a call from [REDACTED BY AGENCY] probation officer asking where he was. She then called him and told him to come back to the house so that she would know where he was and advised that he came back and that [REDACTED BY AGENCY] stayed out all day. When I asked her about her relationship with [REDACTED BY AGENCY] she advised that it is strained and that [REDACTED BY AGENCY] constantly defies her. She said that [REDACTED BY AGENCY] disobeys, runs off, calls the police on Briteny, and advised that there is an open DFCS case against her because of [REDACTED BY AGENCY]. When I asked her why she and her daughter argued and fought, she advised that her daughter is defiant.

I then asked her if she had told her son to not let [REDACTED BY AGENCY] back into the house for the night and Briteny began to deflect and not answer my question directly. She eventually made statements saying. “I don’t know what I said” and “maybe I did” when I asked her again if she had made [WITNESS #2] lock [REDACTED BY AGENCY] out of the house for the night. She then began to tell me that I could talk to [REDACTED BY AGENCY] case worker. I advised her that this was a serious matter and that I needed to talk to Briteny further about it and she then strongly told me “I’m not interested in talking to you” and hung up on me.

I then returned [WITNESS #2]’s phone to him and asked him again if his mother had told him to not allow [REDACTED BY AGENCY] back in the home. He told me that she had told him to not let her back in the house. I told him that a report would be made and that [REDACTED BY AGENCY] was to go back inside out of the cold. He made no effort to stop her and [REDACTED BY AGENCY] was allowed back into the home.

I then spoke further with the complainant, [WITNESS #1], who told me that she and her husband had heard constant knocking downstairs and when they looked out, they saw [REDACTED BY AGENCY] standing in the breezeway. They asked her if she was ok and she made statements to them saying “they won’t open the door” and that she had been out there since approximately 10pm. [WITNESS #1] advised that she looked like a cold teenage girl left alone outside, so she called 911 for her.

I then went to Briteny’s work (Pruitt Health) located at 2 Three Rivers Dr. Another employee let me in and took me to speak with Briteny. While speaking with her, I asked her again if she had told her son to not let [REDACTED BY AGENCY] back into the house for the night. She then looked away from me and began to make statements that deflected from my question. Eventually, Briteny began to tell me that she tells her children to not answer the door for anyone when she isn’t home. I told her that telling her children to not answer the door for strangers is one thing, but to bar a juvenile from her home was another. I asked her again if she had told [WITNESS #2] to not allow her 16 y/o child back into the home. She then made statements indicating that she didn’t know how [WITNESS #2] had taken what she said and that she tells her children to not answer the door for anyone.

I then placed her under arrest and into handcuffs, fit and double locked, and into the back of my patrol vehicle. I then transported her to the Floyd County Jail where she was booked in on the charge of Cruelty to Children 1st for willfully depriving her juvenile daughter of warmth and shelter and having her left alone in that condition for several hours.

When I initially arrived on scene to investigate, the air temperature was approximately 40 degrees. Through the early morning, the temperature had dropped to the mid 30s. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] was wearing only sweats and a hoodie and appeared to be shivering and holding her arms around her person when I spoke with her. She was alone and outside in that state for an estimated three hours. She is a 16 y/o female and had no phone–needing a neighbor to call 911 for her.

[End of Narrative]