Man who admitted to killing foster mother, brother in 2019 sentenced to 30-80 years

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Philadelphia man who admitted to killing his foster mother and brother in 2019 was sentenced Wednesday.

Xavier Johnson pleaded guilty in March to third-degree murder in the deaths of 64-year-old Renee Gillard and 20-year-old Jimmy Mao.

Gillard, was Johnson’s foster mother until she told officials Johnson was not following her rules and was out all hours of the night. A day later, On Jan. 14, she was found by her son, stabbed to death inside a bathtub — her wallet and car gone.

An officer noticed the car the next day and tried to stop it but the car sped off and led police on a high-speed chase through West Philly.

Eventually, it crashed, and Johnson and three others got out. Johnson was arrested and Gillard’s bank card was found in his pocket.

Mao, Johnson’s foster brother, had been missing for about a month before he was found dead inside a duffle bag, stabbed and choked near some train tracks.

Both murders happened about a month apart.

Johnson filed a motion Wednesday asking to withdraw his guilty plea, which the judge denied.

He was sentenced to 30 to 80 years in prison.