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Michael Sarmiento, 40, of Quakertown, was found guilty of third-degree murder but mentally ill by Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Vough on Wednesday morning, Feb. 26. The ruling carries the same legal weight as a third-degree murder conviction but allows Sarmiento to receive mental health treatment while incarcerated, state Attorney General Dave Sunday announced.
Johnson, a Massachusetts resident, was found dead on June 6, 2021, inside a Hazle Township motel room where she had been staying with Sarmiento. Investigators determined she died from blunt force trauma sustained during a violent beating. A forensic pathologist testified that she had been struck at least 10 times and showed signs of strangulation, per Sunday.
“This defendant callously took the life of Ms. Johnson, then attempted to avoid accountability,” Attorney General Sunday said. “The investigators and prosecutors in this case were determined to see that justice was done for Helena Johnson. We hope this verdict provides a small amount of peace for those who love her and miss her every day.”
Pennsylvania State Police arrested Sarmiento after surveillance footage and forensic evidence contradicted his version of events. In the early hours of June 5, 2021, Sarmiento called 911, claiming he had discovered Johnson unresponsive in the bathtub. However, surveillance video revealed that the two had entered their motel room together at 6:59 a.m. on June 4, according to investigators.
Sarmiento left alone roughly two hours later and did not return for 15 hours — at which point he made the 911 call. No one else had entered or exited the room in the interim, authorities said.
Sarmiento is set to be sentenced on May 1. He faces the potential of decades behind bars.
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