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Neighbor of BallenIsles murder suspect calls him 'ordinary' during carpooling

Posted at 10:55 PM, Mar 14, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-15 07:00:38-04

Corey Johnson was as unthreatening of a kid as one could be, according to a neighbor who carpooled the teen to Dwyer high school. Johnson is accused of killing 13-year-old Jovanni Sierra, and injuring Elaine Simon and her son, Dane Bancroft, Monday morning in the BallenIsles neighborhood in Palm Beach Gardens.

The neighbor wanted to remained anonymous.

It’s a contrast to the law enforcement reports of Johnson’s alleged infatuation with brutal dictators like Hitler, Stalin and Kim Jung Un. The reports say Johnson supported ISIS and would watch gruesome videos produced by the terror group.

Johnson told police his Muslim faith and videos inspired his knife attack Monday. 

The neighbor says Johnson never discussed anything violent or threatening on the way to school. He wasn’t physically imposing. The neighbor described interactions with Johnson as ordinary. 

When Johnson withdrew from school several weeks ago, the neighbor thought Johnson was just being a teenage boy, looking for something else to do. 

The neighbor said Johnson recently had a job at Winn-Dixie.