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Man charged in 2013 murder of mother & her 11-year-old daughter in Clinton Township

Posted at 11:43 AM, Aug 13, 2020
and last updated 2020-08-13 17:23:24-04

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Clinton Township police have arrested a man in connection to the 2013 murder of a mother and her 11-year-old daughter.

On July 30, 2013, Tina and Krissy Geiger were murdered inside their Clinton Township apartment. Both were developmentally disabled, so a social worker regularly checked on them.

When a caregiver couldn't get in touch with the Geigers, the apartment manager went looking for them, and found them stabbed several times.

Police rushed to the Parkway Village Apartments near Harper and 16 Mile. They scoured the Geiger’s second floor apartment for fingerprints, DNA and whatever other evidence they could gather.

Clinton Township detectives Joseph Burns and Lt. Eric Reincke say nothing was taken from the apartment, and they found no signs of forced entry.

“It’s a situation where the door could have been unlocked. The door could have been ajar before somebody went in or it could have been a known party. We don’t know at this point,” said Det. Lt. Reincke.

Their bodies were found on a Tuesday. The last time neighbors had seen Tina or Krissy was 4 or 5 days before that, when Tina was doing the laundry in a common area which was just steps from her door.

The suspect, 40-year-old Tony James Johnson, was arrested last week for a different crime, and that's likely how detectives matched his fingerprints.

Johnson was arraigned on two counts of open murder.

In 2006, he was arrested for felony assault, and in 2011, there is an arrest for felony burglary. It is not clear if he was ever convicted of those crimes.

Last Thursday, Detroit police arrested Johnson on a felony stolen vehicle charge. Detectives linked a palm print that was found at the Geiger homicide scene to their suspect.

The magistrate set bond at $1 million. He is due back in court later this month.