‘I had hope for him’: Former girlfriend of Minneapolis homicide victim speaks

Five hours before police held a news conference on Friday to announce that they had identified partial human remains found in northeast Minneapolis as 36-year-old Adam Richard Johnson, the mother of his child says she received a visit from detectives at her home.

"I didn’t want to believe it. I didn’t want to hear what they had to tell me," said the woman, who asked to only be identified as JoJo.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS agreed not to use her full name due to her concerns for her privacy and her safety.

"it was a very big shock. And … seems very unreal," JoJo said.

She says she and Johnson had not been together for years, but they continued to co-parent their 4-year-old son.

"There is never an easy way to tell a young child that they’re never going to see their father again," she said. "I’m not prepared for the questions I’m going to have to answer, and there’s a lot that we don’t know, so there’s a lot that I might not be able to answer right now."

Minneapolis police have not named any suspects in the case and say the medical examiner has yet to determine the cause and manner of Johnson’s death.

JoJo said she does not know any specific reason Johnson would have been in the part of Minneapolis where neighbors found his remains or who might want to hurt him.

"I can’t even think of anybody — anybody that would do something like this," she said.

However, she acknowledged Johnson had struggled with mental illness, which she says contributed to a history of trouble with the law. She said she had not seen Johnson in several months.

"When he’s doing fantastic and doing great, he is a wonderful person, and when he struggles, he really struggles. … It does and it has ended up in trouble," JoJo said.

She said Johnson had been looking for a permanent place to stay in Minneapolis and she last heard from him Sunday on social media.

"He just messaged me on Instagram and told me that he loved me and that he would talk to me ASAP," she said. "When I see the ‘talk to you ASAP’ and I didn’t respond and now I will never get to."

As police continue to ask the public for help in their investigation, JoJo says she also wants to know what happened.

"I’m hopeful we’ll get more answers," she said. "It’s going to take time, but we’ll get there."