Cold-blooded NYC killer who gunned down childhood friend in evil act learns her fate as victims family tears into her: No remorse

A cold-blooded killer who gunned down her childhood friend on a crowded Brooklyn street has shown “no remorse” in the years since the shocking slaying — and the motive remains a mystery even as she was sentenced on Monday. Claudia Banton, 46, deserved to rot in prison for the “evil act,” victim Delia Johnson’s grieving relatives said in Brooklyn Supreme Court before the convicted murderer was slapped with a 23-year-to-life prison sentence.“It’s an act of pure evil and what makes it even more painful is that she showed no remorse for what she did,” Johnson’s brother, Mathis Lemons, 51, told Justice Margaret Martin at the hearing, urging the judge to throw the book at Banton.“My sister’s killer should never see the world again,” Lemons said.Banton showed no emotion as Johnson’s family expressed shock that the woman they once took into their home had turned out to be their kin’s killer. “I saw you as family at one point in my life,” Johnson’s daughter, Ladeya Jenkins, 21, told Banton. “To say this hurt, I cannot even say that.That’s putting it lightly.”Johnson’s sister, Khadijah Berry, 31, echoed the heartrending sentiment.“You and her were friends… but what broke my heart is knowing you did it and knowing how you did it to my sister,” she said.Banton was convicted April 3 of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon for the gruesome execution-style killing, which took place outside another friend’s funeral on Franklin Avenue in Crown Heights on Aug.

4, 2021. Banton and Johnson were former friends, but no information about the killer’s motive came out over the course of her trial, which lasted a little less than a month.Authorities said Banton blasted the 42-year-old mom at least five times in front of shocked mourners, sending them running for cover.  “The first shot wasn’t enough for this defendant,” Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney Michael Diamond told the court duri...