Honor Student Accused of Poisoning Grandmother’s Collard Greens With Termite Killer After Cell Phone Taken Away

A teenager from Fayetteville, North Carolina, was arrested Thursday and charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder after police say she laced her grandmother’s Easter dinner with insecticide. 

According to the arrest warrant, 17-year-old Tyt’ana Lisa-Nicole Johnson poured insecticide and termite killer into a pot of collard greens cooking on the stove, knowing that her grandmother, Gaylon Moody, had every intention of eating them. Moody said the plot was revenge for taking her granddaughter’s cellphone away for one week. 

According to Moody, she prepared the dinner and then attended church for Easter services. She returned for dinner with a friend, Clifton Evans. 

Moody and Evans attempted to drive to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center but didn’t make it. They reportedly exited the vehicle, “staggering like we were intoxicated, but neither one of us drank,” according to Moody. Evans added, “We couldn’t even stand up we were so weak.”

Moody and Evans were picked up by a friend who reportedly had overheard Johnson making suspicious comments about her intentions to harm her grandmother. Both Moody and Evans spent the night in the hospital where they were treated. 

On Wednesday, Moody said she discovered an empty bottle of pesticide in a cabinet.  She and Evans then confronted Johnson who confessed:  

“She said, ‘Mr. Evans, I didn’t mean to make you sick. I was trying to get back at grandma,'” Evans said. “They got her locked up, but she needs help. Seriously, something’s wrong with her. People don’t do that over cellphones.”

On Friday, Evans ironically complimented the would be murderous chef, saying that he actually had two servings of the collard greens.  “That was good. I was loving it,” he said. “Even with the stuff on it.”

That being said, he added, “I ain’t eating nobody’s collard greens now except my mother’s.” 

Johnson was being held Friday in the Cumberland County jail under a $500,000 bond.

She is an honor roll student at Terry Sanford High School.