good afternoon and welcome to true crime mysteries if you're new to the channel hello and welcome and
if you're returning welcome back today we're discussing the tragic and preventable murder
of riley white law who was brutally killed by her stalker and co-worker at a walgreens
a company that made zero effort to protect her let's get into it just a short disclaimer before
we get started though most of the information is coming from police reports no one in this case
has been convicted yet and therefore allegations nestled at the base of pike's peak a scenic summit
in the rocky mountains is colorado springs it's described as a big city with a small town feel
but the recent murder of seventeen-year-old riley whitelaw has shaken this mad western community
to its core the man accused of murdering a 17-year-old co-worker at a colorado springs
drug store made his first court appearance today joshua johnson faces first-degree murder charges
after allegedly killing the academy district 20 student in a walgreens break room 13 investigates
learned in court that the 28-year-old suspect was on probation at the time police say he murdered
riley whitelaw it was an unsupervised 12-month probation for a traffic offense he pleaded guilty
to last year arrest documents describe a horrific bloody scene inside that store a gruesome killing
that allegedly took place with customers shopping just outside riley was a high school student
working part-time at the local walgreens she was a talented student that kept a super busy schedule
when she wasn't in class she was a school color guard member and even found time to volunteer
at a local animal shelter she was described as a creative person that used several artistic outlets
to express herself she loved painting writing dancing and playing guitar not only was she
accomplished and bright but riley was described as empathetic compassionate and wise beyond her years
riley was tragically robbed of her bright future when she was murdered on june 11th
the story of that day actually began one year earlier when riley was only 16 years old and
started working a couple days a week at her local walgreens riley was said to have liked her job
there and got along with her co-workers however riley went to her management team and said that
one co-worker was making her uncomfortable 28 year old joshua johnson she said that johnson
was making several unwanted advances towards her and she was concerned and wanted it to stop
the store manager justin zunino told her that he would take the complaint seriously
but only spoke to johnson asking him to act professional in the workplace
we are talking about a grown man making unwanted sexual advances towards a minor and all that
happened is he was asked politely to stop no additional precautions were taken to protect riley
there were no disciplinary actions taken and riley was forced to continue working shifts with a man
who would continue to harass her over the next nine months riley continued working at the store
and it is unclear if the behavior continued from johnson or if management wasn't doing anything
about it there allegedly weren't any additional former complaints for a while i remember when i
was 18 and working my first full-time job it was a job that i worked entirely with much older adults
almost all of them were men i had endured months of sexual harassment from a couple of guys that
i worked with when i went to my mail manager he laughed and said i was being sensitive and
told me to ignore it it kept happening and when i approached the owner about what was happening
all of a sudden my manager was pissed off at me because i'd gotten him in trouble after that
my manager basically told all of my co-workers i had tattled on them and i was ruining all the fun
i was essentially bullied relentlessly after that i was put on shitty shifts i had my hours cut and
my manager refused to sign off on reporting my hours that i needed for my apprenticeship i know
that my experience is not a unique one reporting sexual harassment in any workplace is terrifying
it took me weeks to build up the courage to say something and in the end it made things
10 times worse the bullying for reporting the incident was way worse than the initial harassment
i don't know if this happened to riley exactly but i know what happens in workplaces
people gossip and people are mean in march of 2022 riley's boyfriend jacob began working
at the same walgreens as riley it was at this point that things began to escalate
crystal icemeal another manager at the store began noticing that johnson seemed to be acting
increasingly jealous but again nothing was done about it there was zero effort made
by management to make any changes or protections in place in late may riley approached management
again and reported johnson for unwanted advances that were making her uncomfortable
she specifically stated that things were at the worst when they worked shifts together riley asked
to not be scheduled with johnson it seemed to be a very reasonable request if they weren't willing to
do anything else she made the complaint with the store manager justin zunino as was seen with the
first complaint no action was taken when riley asked not to be scheduled with johnson she was
told that they could only accommodate her request by cutting her hours and it wasn't possible to
schedule them separately the harassment was so unbearable that riley accepted the accommodation
but eventually approached management again and that she said she basically begged for more hours
zunino said he could give her more hours but she would need to work with johnson and just deal
with it riley accepted the schedule change and went back to working night shifts with johnson
on june 11th 2022 riley was working the same shift as johnson she left for her 30-minute
break around 5 30 pm she was working a saturday so she was likely midway through her shift
for anyone unfamiliar with corporate retail structure breaks are usually staggered in
such a way that they shouldn't disrupt business service these breaks are usually all pre-planned
out and on your schedule so you know what time approximately you're going to be taking your break
and if you are even a minute late coming back from your break
your manager usually knows about it because that means your co-worker can't go on their break and
it has a domino effect for the rest of the breaks that day so to me this next part makes no sense
crystal ice mill noticed that riley didn't return from her break around 6 pm and called
justin zunino to come back to the store he quickly returned a few minutes later ishmael claimed to
have looked all over the store for riley and had basically assumed she had abandoned her shift
which is a term used for people who leave midshift zunino decides to check the store's security
footage to see if riley left the building but instead he finds something much more disturbing
in the videos anino saw joshua johnson carefully stacking boxes on top of one another until they
completely cover their surveillance camera that faced the staff break room as if he was trying to
prevent people from seeing the actions he was about to take he noted the time when johnson
had started doing this and it was hours before riley's disappearance near the start of his shift
zunino also noticed that when he returned to the store someone had taped over the windows
to the break room with paper so that you couldn't directly see inside the break room
additionally he noticed a restroom closed sign taped over the door
this was the public washroom and it was unusual to have that sign up while the store was still open
at the time he hadn't really thought anything of it or didn't really think it was super important
but while he was watching johnson cover the cameras he knew something very wrong had happened
finally zunino went to the break room being the first person to go there since riley went on break
apparently no one had thought to check the break room when they were searching the whole store for
riley when he opened the door he immediately saw riley on the floor and said that there was blood
everywhere completely upset and in shock he did not enter the room and ran out to call 9-1-1 at 6
55 pm meanwhile crystal ishmael said that she had been looking around the store for riley when she
noticed a strong odor of bleach coming from the dumpster area when she attempted to investigate
further a male voice called back and said not to open it or come closer because he was changing
she quickly went to astonino for help but no one was there when she returned
all that was present was a completely empty bottle bleach on the ground police officers arrived
on the scene at 7 02 pm according to the police affidavit riley had suffered significant trauma to
her neck area and there was a lot of blood around her head and on the floor and other stains on the
floor cabinets encounter zunino and ishmael relayed the information to the police about
everything they had seen in the store that day and the camera footage they also told officers
about johnson's jealous behavior and advances towards the victim joshua johnson was already
the prime suspect but he was nowhere to be found officers began taking statements from customers
and co-workers and discovered at approximately 5 44 pm a customer in the store was shopping in
the deodorant aisle when she heard screaming and a slamming noise like a door or locker nervous yet
unsure of exactly what she'd heard the lady simply finished her purchase and left the store only
reporting what she had heard after the incidents of the day came to light but she wasn't the only
one who heard that several other reports from customers and co-workers reported hearing similar
noises but no one investigated placing the time of the attack at 5 44 pm and even more shocking
that no one checked the staff area for over an hour i have been a manager for many years and if
someone was ever late coming back from break the first place i would check would be the staff room
law enforcement finally found johnson the following day walking on interstate 95 near
trinidad colorado over a hundred miles from where the crime had occurred according to officers who
picked him up johnson had scratch marks on his face and hands consistent with defensive wounds
johnson was promptly picked up without incident and brought in for questioning
he admitted to officers that he'd previously had a crush on riley
but had not been interested lately because he was in a relationship with crystal ishmael
while there is uncertainty as to whether his claim is true crystal certainly did not mention this to
police nor did any of the other interviewees so it's possible johnson lied about his involvement
with her johnson also made the improbable claim that he'd been in the break room after riley had
been killed and slipped and fell in her blood but did not call police and decided to clean himself
up he said that he walked at the store went home and changed his clothes however he denied
stacking the boxes to cover the camera despite the clear evidence of this action being seen on video
joshua johnson was officially arrested and charged with first-degree murder
he's being held without bail while he awaits trial the investigation is ongoing johnson will next be
in court on august 26th while joshua johnson is the top suspect and the likely murderer of riley
news outlets have speculated as to whether he is the only party to blame for riley's death
walgreens and her managers there should have done more to protect riley sexual harassment
reports should have been taken seriously and inappropriate behavior like what johnson exhibited
should not have been tolerated in the workplace riley's safety and well-being
were not prioritized by her workplace and this negligence contributed to her death
walgreens has not made a public statement about riley's murder though they did opt to say that
they were providing grief counseling to employees and have closed the store which as of recording
remains closed it is unclear if any legal action will be taken against the management of the store
or if there will be any broader actions taken by the company to prevent this from happening again
riley's family has set up a gofundme to establish a scholarship in riley's name they are hopeful
there's swift justice and appreciate the outpouring of support they have received
from the community and abroad we have some new developments in the death of a high school student
at a local walgreens people are raising money in honor of 17 year old riley whitelaw a gofundme
has been made organizers say they hope to put the money raised toward a scholarship fund in her name
and possibly toward genetics research which they say that riley enjoyed studying
as of tonight they have gathered almost 30 thousand dollars eleven news reporter aaron vitido
joins us live from where this all started erin the man charged in this murder was in court today
yes he was lindsay 28-year-old joshua johnson was formally charged with first-degree murder today
when he first appeared in front of a judge now riley's body was found in the break room
of this walgreens on the corner of centennial and vindicator johnson was later found and arrested
near wallsenburg almost 100 miles away from the scene according to court papers obtained
by 11 news riley and johnson had both worked at this walgreens the papers say that managers told
police she had complained about johnson making her uncomfortable with unwanted advances nearly a year
earlier she reportedly had asked them to avoid scheduling the two together but when
she had asked for more hours the store told her that this would require working with johnson
we reached out to walgreens about this but they have since refused to comment they do say
though that they are offering grief counseling and support services for their staff members
i also reached out asking them when they're expecting this door to reopen and they tell
me that it will remain closed now as of right now johnson is being held without bond in the
el paso county jail he's expected back in court in august we'll be there and we will of course
keep you updated with the latest a funeral is also being held for riley this thursday
reporting live in colorado springs aaron vitito kktv 11 news all right erin thank you
colorado springs police department also encourages anyone with information about this case to call
them or make anonymous reports with crime stoppers let me know in the comments down below if you want
me to cover the joshua johnson trial well that is it for this video as always thank you so much for
watching if you like this content and what i do over here please don't forget to subscribe and
hit the notification bell so you don't miss my next upload and also a friendly reminder
we have channel membership or patreon if you want to get more behind the scenes content
you