State court upholds life sentences for VA man convicted in Mount Union double murder case
HUNTINGDON COUNTY, Pa (WJAC) — A Pennsylvania appellate court has upheld the sentencing for a Virginia man who was convicted of killing two women in Huntingdon County nearly two decades ago.
Morico Johnson, of Newport News, VA, is currently serving consecutive life sentences after being found guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of 31-year-old Beatrice Daniels and her niece, 22-year-old Christine McWhorter.
Investigators say the women's bodies were found inside their Mount Union home in January of 2009.
Prosecutors say the case remained unsolved for more than a decade before new DNA technology linked Johnson to the shootings, resulting in his arrest in 2022.
In early 2025, a jury convicted Johnson following 10 days of testimony.
Johnson has repeatedly challenged the evidence in the case but newly filed court documents show that a state appellate court sided with the factual evidence that was presented at trial.
The 52-year-old convicted murderer is serving his sentence at SCI Coal Township.