SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8/CNS) — A woman accused of killing her husband and daughter is testifying on her own behalf.
New details emerged Tuesday in the trial of Regina Johnson who prosecutors say she stayed with the bodies for days inside the family's home.
Johnson sobbed on the stand saying she did not kill her daughter, she was "her everything," while her husband was a serial cheater, whom she did kill.
"I did not kill my daughter," said Johnson. "Everybody that knows me, knows that Aaliyah, she was the love of my life."
60-year-old Regina Johnson of San Carlos took the stand Tuesday accused of murdering her 14-year-old daughter Aaliyah and her spouse Reuben, then planting the gun next to his body and staying in the family's home with the bodies for several days without calling police.
Johnson's defense attorney Deputy Public Defender Neil Besse says it was the husband who fired the shot that killed their daughter before Johnson shot him dead.
The crime occurred in the family's condominium in the 7200 block of Navajo Road on May 30, 2012.
Deputy District Attorney Nicole Rooney alleges that Johnson ambushed her daughter, shooting her in the back of the head as she got dressed, then ambushed her husband, 56-year-old Reuben Johnson, as he came into their daughter's bedroom. He was shot in the side, then the head.
"Aaliyah was caught completely by surprise," the prosecutor said. "Her mother came up behind her and executed her. Reuben Johnson was ambushed just like his daughter."
The prosecutor said the defendant's DNA was "all over the gun," which was found next to her husband's head, and her fingerprints were also found on the gun's magazine.
The defendant also got rid of shell casings and pills she was taking for depression, according to Rooney, and used lipstick to write a message to her doctor on a bathroom mirror.
"You know I should not have been taking all those pills," the message read.
When asked Tuesday if she killed Reuben, Regina Johnson replied "yes," but said she did not do so because he was having affairs.
"Reuben had been having affairs since Aaliyah was born," said Johnson. "I got immune to it... Reuben and I weren't sleeping together."
Johnson's attorney says she was depressed over losing her job and not being able to dote over her daughter.
She faces 100 years to life in prison if convicted of both murder counts.
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