St. Paul man sentenced to prison for kidnapping, threatening to kill son

A St. Paul man learned his future on Friday after pleading guilty to kidnapping and making threats of violence.

Johnny Bernard Daniels, 35, was sentenced to 92 months (more than 7.5 years) in prison, which is in line with the plea agreement made with prosecutors in September, court records show. Judge Nicole Starr allowed him to receive 475 days of credit. In addition, Starr ordered Daniels to register as a predatory offender for life.

A criminal complaint states that on July 31, 2022, deputies with the Ramsey County Court were informed that Daniels had taken his seven-year-old son from the Wisconsin Dells and threatened to kill the boy.

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The complaint states that Daniels, his son, and the boy’s mother were in the Wisconsin Dells for a soccer tournament. Daniels told the boy’s mother, who has full custody of the child, that he was going to take his son to the water park in the morning. However, he later called and said he was taking the child to Minnesota.

When the boy’s mother objected and told Daniels to bring the child back, the criminal complaint states Daniels told her, “you’re never seeing him again” and then hung up. The complaint added Daniels then started threatening to harm the child and allegedly told the boy, “You’re gonna die today.”

The boy later told authorities that he tried to run away twice but Daniels caught him both times, put him back in the vehicle, locked all the doors and then threatened him.

The boy’s mother got to her home in Vadnais Heights later in the afternoon and called law enforcement. Daniels told the mother he would bring the boy to her so he could change clothes, but he changed his mind multiple times and kept changing the time he planned to come over.

The boy’s mother also contacted Daniels’ mother and sister to try to calm him down and get him to bring the child home. Daniels’ sister later told authorities that he threatened to kill his son because he wanted the boy’s mother “to know what it felt like to not have access to her kids.”

Deputies waited for him to arrive and then surrounded his vehicle and arrested him.

Daniels has five prior felony convictions: two terroristic threats, criminal sexual conduct in the third degree, domestic assault, and forgery, the complaint states.