Police: Homicide charges filed in Penn Hills toddler Nalani Johnson case

Authorities don’t know exactly how Nalani Johnson died, but they formally announced Friday that her death has been ruled a homicide.

Sharena Nancy, 25, of Penn Hills, is accused of killing Nalani on Aug. 31. The girl would have turned 2 on Sept. 15.

The toddler was found dead Sept. 3 in an Indiana County park, buckled into her car seat. An intensive search for her began on Aug. 31, when authorities said Nancy drove from Penn Hills after Nalani’s father, Paul Johnson, and a friend got out of the car she was driving following an argument.

Nancy sped off before they could get the toddler out of the car, according to a criminal complaint.

Nancy was stopped at 7:26 p.m. in Penn Hills, but Nalani was not with her. Police said she gave them conflicting accounts of what happened, at times denying knowing about Nalani and ultimately telling police she spent the day at Kennywood Park with Johnson, Nalani and Johnson’s friend, the complaint said.

In a subsequent interview with police and the FBI, Nancy told them Johnson had sold his daughter for $10,000 and had given Nancy instructions to drop off the toddler with the buyer along Route 22, according to the complaint.

The complaint said Nancy took police to the area where she said she gave the girl to two women in an SUV with California plates.

Police said they used records from Nancy’s cellphone to place her within a half-mile of where the toddler was ultimately found near Blairsville.

There were no visible signs of trauma to Nalani that would have caused her death, according to an autopsy performed Sept. 4 by Dr. Kevin Whaley. However, Whaley noted small scrapes to both sides of the toddler’s face.

There also was a yellowish substance in Nalani’s stomach.

Although the cause of death was not determined, Whaley concluded the girl was dead when she was left in the park and Indiana County Coroner Jerry Overman Jr. ruled the death a homicide.

Overman didn’t release the report publicly and did not return a message seeking comment.

Nancy, who has been in Allegheny County Jail since Aug. 31 on charges of kidnapping, concealment of the whereabouts of a child and interference with the custody of children, now also faces charges of homicide and abuse of a corpse, according to the criminal complaint.