The Battery Acid & Blender Murder of 16-Month-Old Oncwanique

Warning: The following story contains graphic content that some readers may find disturbing.

Joan Tribblet and Everette Johnson were the parents of four children, including 16-month-old Oncwanique. Joan was pregnant with their fifth child. (One of the children was from Joan’s previous relationship.) The toddler slept in the bed with Joan and Everette.

Oncqanique Wakes Up

On December 19, 1997, Oncwanique woke up in the middle of the night. she was fussy and pulling on the blankets. Joan ordered her to stand at the foot of the bed until she got sleepy. The toddler accidentally touched the bed and Joan responded by strangling her until she fell unconscious.

When Oncwanique woke, she again began to cry. Joan beat her with a wooden ruler and forced her into the bed. Everette then woke up angry that Oncwanique would not stop crying. He grabbed the ruler and repeatedly struck her until she fell limp in his arms and stopped breathing.

Joan attempted to revive Oncwanique with cold water but she did not wake. Joan laid her back in the bed where she died.

Joan, Everette 'Dispose' of Remains

The following morning, Joan and Everette decided against calling paramedics or police afraid they would go to jail and lose their children. The alternative was to dispose of Oncwanique’s body.

Joan suggested they cut up her body and fry the pieces in a pan. Everett suggested they dissolve her body in battery acid, the same method he saw done in a movie. The pair covered the bathroom floor with newspaper, transported Oncwanique’s body and began cutting her body into pieces. Joan chopped off her hands and forearms, coated them in flour, then fried them atop the stove in oil.

The smell and smoke caused complaints from neighbors, so the two ultimately agreed on dissolving Oncwanique’s body in battery acid. Everette bought a large stock pot and container of battery acid, placed Oncwanique’s body inside the pot and covered it with acid.

Because the body was rigid, Everette told Joan to cut out her spine so she would fit into the pot. Joan and Everette placed the pot under the kitchen sink, then scattered the pre-cooked pieces into nearby alleyways and fed some of the remains to the family dog. He threw her spine into a swampy area behind his workplace.

Joan and Everette allowed the body parts to dissolve in the acid underneath the sink for several weeks, occasionally stirring the brew with a screwdriver. At one point, Everett borrowed a blender from a neighbor that he used to help liquify the body.

When dissolved, he poured the mixture down the toilet and some into a nearby city sewer.

M aternal Grandmother Reports Granddaughter Missing

Six months later, Ms. Freddie Robinson, Oncwanique’s maternal grandmother, reported her granddaughter missing. Joan and Everette made plenty of excuses about her whereabouts over the months and Ms. Robinson grew tired of the contradictory statements.

Two days after the report, police visited the Johnson/Tribbet home where they found a large pot, the screwdriver, the blender, and a pair of blue jeans with holes caused by the battery acid spilling onto them.

“There were portions that had been cooked up that [Johnson] then basically distributed at another location so that dogs and vermin would get to the child,” said prosecutor Thomas Epach.

Conviction & Sentencing

Both Joan and Everette initially denied murdering Oncwanique, however, Joan later confessed and agreed to testify against her boyfriend. She claimed that Everette forced her to keep her daughter’s death a secret. She and Everette were both convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Joan is eligible for parole in 2027 and has a tentative release date in 2030. Everett is eligible for parole in 2047 with a tentative release date in 2050. i

Joan changed her story after the trial, claiming that Everette took Oncwanique out of the home the morning following her death but refused to tell her what he did with the body.