Delia Johnson.Photo: Facebook
A 42-year-old woman wanted in connection with the execution-style shooting of a New York City mother in August has been apprehended in Florida, PEOPLE confirms.
NYPD sources tell PEOPLE that Claudia Banton was taken into custody Monday in Jacksonville, Fla.
According to sources, Banton was allegedly behind the brazen attack in Brooklyn.
Surveillance footage of the crime shows a woman emerge from a double-parked vehicle before walking up to 42-year-old mom Delia Johnson and calmly shooting her in the back of the head.
Johnson was talking with people on the stoop of an apartment building in Crown Heights when the shooting occurred.
As Johnson fell to the sidewalk, the woman shot her again.
Then the woman can be seen in the video walking back to the vehicle and driving off.
Police had been searching for Banton since the fatal Aug. 4 shooting.
Claudia Banton.Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office
Johnson was the mother of a teenaged daughter,NBC New York reports.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
The station spoke to relatives, who said Johnson was an entrepreneur who made her living selling vintage clothing.
Delia Barry, Johnson’s mother, told theNew York Daily Newsshe hasn’t slept since learning of the arrest.
Sources tell PEOPLE a motive for the killing remains unclear. TheDaily Newsreports Banton was a family friend of Johnson’s.
The charges against Banton will be detailed once she is back in New York. It was not immediately clear if she has retained a lawyer.
A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help pay for Johnson’s funeral costs.
“Delia was a loving mother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend and up and coming entrepreneur,” the page reads. “Our loss is immense.”
source: people.com
