DA Hoovler Announces Charges in City of Middletown Murder Case

March 18, 2020

19-Year-Old Woman Charged with Murder in the Second Degree
for Stabbing 17-Year-Old Male Outside of the Defendant’s House

Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced on Tuesday, March 17, 2020, that Chelsea Johnson, 19, of Middletown, was arraigned before Orange County Court Judge William L. DeProspo on an indictment charging her with crimes including Murder in the Second Degree, in connection with the fatal stabbing of a seventeen-year-old man outside of Johnson’s Middletown residence on January 21, 2020. Johnson remains in the Orange County Jail in lieu of bail which was set in the amount of $500,000 cash, $1,500,000 secured bond or $5,000,000 partially secured bond. Johnson is next scheduled to appear in Orange County Court on May 5, 2020.

The indictment charges Johnson with Murder in the Second Degree, Manslaughter in the First Degree and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree. At the arraignment, prosecutors argued that the deceased youth had accompanied Johnson’s former boyfriend to her residence on Orchard Street. It is alleged that after Johnson became involved in an argument with the victim, she stabbed him with a kitchen knife that she had placed in her pocket when she left the house to confront her former boyfriend and the seventeen-year-old.

District Attorney Hoovler thanked the City of Middletown Police Department for their investigation and the arrest of Johnson, as well as the New York State Police, who aided in the investigation.

“Obviously, every violent death is an unimaginable tragedy for the family and friends of the deceased,” said District Attorney David M. Hoovler. “That pain is even more pronounced when, as here, the victim is so young. My deepest condolences go out to the family and loved ones of the deceased. I thank the City of Middletown Police Department and the New York State Police for their untiring efforts in this investigation.”

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney David Byrne.

This criminal charge is merely an allegation that a defendant has committed a violation of the criminal law, and it is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the State of New York’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.