News & Current Events

DNA Breakthrough Cracks Cold Case Of Student Found Stabbed In Apartment

Published on May 19, 2025

It appeared as though the case of the vicious murder of a University of Tennessee graduate student would never be solved after the lead investigator passed away in a car accident.

However, because of the blood-soaked crime scene, DNA evidence gave authorities a breakthrough in the case a few years later.

The murder weapon, a steak knife, was left bent and broken after 21-year-old Johnia Berry was stabbed more than 20 times in the early hours of December 6, 2004, in the face, head, neck, back, chest, and legs.

Her flatmate Jason Aymami was able to escape with his life after the vicious attack woke him up and caused him to come out of his bedroom at around four in the morning.

Aymami left his house after being stabbed by the attacker and called 911 from a nearby convenience shop.

Berry was discovered near dead at her apartment’s entrance when emergency personnel arrived at her Tri-Cities residence.

Berry sadly passed away while en route to the hospital, just before she was scheduled to get her master’s degree from East Tennessee State University.

ABC’s 20/20 special, “Blood on the Door,” which aired on Friday, May 16, has lately brought the case back into the public eye.

Knox County Sheriff’s Detective AmyLynn Delgado told the TV crew, “What stood out to me the most about the weapon is how damaged it was.”

“It was a small steak knife, but the handle was broken. The blade was bent… it was very violent, just given the force to break the handle.”

Investigators focused on Berry’s fiancé because they were certain that she must have known her killer due to the extreme violence of the murder.

“We really focused mostly on her closest circle,” said Delgado. But her partner, who was 700 miles away in Michigan at the time of the murder, had a convincing alibi, and his phone records supported it.

The only information they had about Berry’s deranged killer was that Aymami had personally met him and described him as 150 pounds and 5’8″.

In May 2005, a forensic artist created a sketch that was later used as part of a billboard campaign to help find him. The prize for any information that led to an arrest was increased to $60,000 by the end of the year.

Despite interviewing over 300 people and collecting about 80 DNA samples, police were still unable to solve the case and still lacked a motivation.

Then, in May 2006, tragedy struck once more when assistant chief Keith Lyon, the primary investigator, died in a car accident while on duty.

Berry’s mom Joan told 20/20, “We called every day.”

“There was that feeling that detectives and the sheriff’s office weren’t doing enough, when in reality they were working this every day. There just weren’t any answers.”

Detectives didn’t make any progress on the case until April 2007, nearly three years after Berry’s passing, and that was because of the billboard campaign.

The police received a tip that the 21-year-old Taylor Lee Olson matched the sketch. He has previously committed small-time offences.

The only issue was that he was a scaled 6’3″ and his DNA had not been documented, making him significantly taller than Amyami had described.

However, Olson voluntarily provided his DNA after being jailed for an entirely different reason in July of that year.

On September 21, he was arrested in West Town Mall after detectives used his DNA to finally locate him at the crime scene.

Officials said that Olson initially denied any role in Berry’s killing before eventually confessing to breaking into her flat through the rear door, which he discovered to be unlocked.

He clarified that during the failed theft, he was searching for the car keys. He was charged with seven offences, including first-degree murder of Berry, aggravated burglary, and attempted murder of Aymami.

In March 2008, while in police custody, Olson committed suicide before his trial could start.