Woman Accused Of Killing Crown Heights Mom Denied Bail: DA

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — The Georgia woman accused of killing a Crown Heights mom point-blank earlier this year has been denied bail while she awaits trial for murder, prosecutors announced.

Claudia Banton, 42, was arraigned Friday on second-degree murder and second-degree weapons charges, four months after the execution-like murder of Delia Johnson on Franklin Avenue, the district attorney announced.

Banton's arrest comes after police who found her in Florida early last week returned her to New York, officials said.

She was denied bail and will head back to court in January, according to the DA.

"This was a cold-blooded execution of a woman who was a beloved mother, daughter, sister and friend, who did not deserve to have her life taken away from her," District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. "The defendant has now been apprehended and we will seek to bring her to justice for this senseless and tragic killing."

Banton, caught on surveillance video, walked up to Johnson while she was standing talking with a group near a Franklin Avenue stoop on Aug. 4 and shot her in the head, according to officials.

As Johnson fell to the ground, Banton shot her again in the leg before getting into a car double parked on the street and driving away, prosecutors said.

Johnson, who lived just a few blocks from where she was killed, was pronounced dead at Interfaith Hospital.

Banton faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted of the top count, prosecutors said.