As I’ve said before, Joan Berry is my hero, and my inspiration.
Joan and Johnia Berry
Mike and Joan Berry’s beautiful daughter Johnia (pronounced “Jah-nah”) was brutally murdered in her Knoxville apartment in 2004. It took several years for the case to be resolved (ambiguously, as it happened to turn out), and during that time Joan and her husband Mike became vocal advocates for Johnia’s case, even when it seemed the criminal justice system had given up.
When 18 months after Johnia’s murder, Joan realized that no progress at all was being made in her daughter’s case, she and Mike were willing to openly question the work of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, something that brought them public criticism from many inside the Knox County power structure. They organized public events to try to get Knox County District Attorney Randy Nichols to enlist available outside resources to fully investigate Johnia’s murder – something he was refusing to do.
(FYI- If you’ve followed my son Henry’s case at all, the specifics of the way Johnia’s case was handled, and the way Joan and Mike were treated by KCSO will seem disturbingly familiar.)
And they refused to shut up or go away like KCSO and the DA obviously wanted them – and their supporters - to do.
No, Joan Berry never, ever, ever gave up, even as others seemingly forgot about what had happened to her child. Three years after Johnia’s murder, answers came in the way of a lucky break that led to a DNA match to the suspect who was charged with the crime.
Today, Joan Berry is an advocate for victims’ families – she founded HOPE for Victims – and together with Mike, she also oversees various charitable initiatives in her daughter’s memory. Joan Berry is also THE reason that Tennessee and multiple other states now have laws in place that require suspects in violent crimes to give a DNA sample.
Yes, Joan Berry is my hero, and I am also proud to call her my friend.
And tonight – Sunday, January 29, 2012 – Johnia’s case and how it was mishandled will finally get the national attention it’s long deserved. Paula Zahn will investigate and profile the Johnia Berry murder case on her show, “On the Case with Paula Zahn.”
“Left in the Dark: Johnia’s Story” will air at 10 pm EST on the ID Investigation Discovery Channel.
I will be watching, and I hope many of my blog readers will be as well.
Note: If you are a Direct TV subscriber in East Tennessee, the Investigation Discovery network is found on channel 284.
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Did you follow Johnia’s case after her murder? What lingering questions do you still have about the case and how it was handled? Share your thoughts on Johnia’s case, as well as on Joan and Mike Berry’s tireless advocacy in the comments below.
9 Responses to “SUNDAY NIGHT: Paula Zahn Investigates Johnia Berry Case”
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Channel 11 said this was on the Discovery Channel but instead it is really on Invd Discovery Channel but we don’t get this channel and there will be ALOT of folks here that don’t get this channel even though it was announced as on Discovery Channel and there is a difference between the 2 channels… We won’t be able to see it
What the hell does Randy Nichols do all day, since he obviously doesn’t see the need to do the investigative work required of his job? It is completely appalling and absurd that the only way people are seeing justice in your community is if the families of the victims, people who know little to nothing about the criminal justice system before being forced to delve into it, do the investigating themselves.
To support your new friend; who I wish for both of you never-ever had to mutally be apart of this kind of nightmare, I will DVR this broadcast. (I *think* I have this channel)
I actually did follow this case and then again with the Christian/Newsom (which made me violently ill when I saw an expose) and I kept thinking: WHO the hell would want to live in freaking Knoxville? Then Henry…”What the fuck is wrong with this state, let alone county?” (I am loathe to admit that I have stereotypical notions of Tennesse and yes, I have been there but only for business.)
YOU ARE GOING DOWN KCSO (refuse to even type the specific names)
If you have Direct TV in east Tennessee, it is channel 284.
I will be watching, Katie!
Comcast Channel 111.
Yes,I Will Be Watching This Tonight Of Johnia.Johnia Is My Half-Sister so i definatley will be watching this!
Thank you, Katie! You have been amazing yourself! I admire you for fighting for justice for Henry. We have to be the vice for our children now! May God Bless.
I watched this this morning (DVR’d it from last night). I was sort of disappointed that they didn’t cover ANY frustration that the Berrys had experienced with the KCSD. In fact, they made it seem as if the police were doing all they could with what they had.
Ditto, Lisa. And I felt they made Brad Hall look like some kind of detective genuis.