Woman speaks out after sister’s alleged murderer awarded bond

BATON ROUGE, La (BRPROUD) – A woman is fighting for justice after her sister’s alleged murderer was awarded bond.

The East Baton Rouge District Attorney’s office confirmed Cedrick Lang, 35, was given a bond amount of $300,000 dollars, but is currently being held because of a bench warrant for a separate incident.

In this case, Lang is accused of killing Rachel Johnson, 42. He was charged with second-degree murder two days after Johnson’s body was found in her home.

Baton Rouge police found Johnson’s body beaten to death in her home on Florida Boulevard. An affidavit said Johnson was found partially naked in the living room with new and old bruising on her body. An autopsy later confirmed that her injuries were recent and from previous altercations.

Her sister, Megan Austin, said she is going to fight for justice in Johnson’s case.

“You could have left my sister any other way, but to find my sister’s body like that, you’re a cruel person,” Austin said.

Johnson was a mother of four boys. She was loved by her family and she was a country girl.

“She was just the one person that could just hold you and you could just feel like you were loved from just your own mama,” said Austin.

Austin said she hadn’t seen her sister in a few months but was told Johnson was signing up for rehab, claiming she was working to get her life on the right path. She said the suspect preyed on that vulnerability.

“He was looking for a vulnerable female and he saw one that clearly had home issues and going through depression herself,” said Austin.

“I was so hurt because when my brother called me, I knew it was her,” Austin said. “She didn’t deserve that, not like that.”

Lang had several domestic violence arrests on his record, and witnesses told police they saw him beat her and threaten to kill her, according to the affidavit.

“He messed with the wrong family because we have each other’s back,” said Austin.

Austin is grieving the loss of her sister and will not rest until justice is served.

“We’re not done yet, we’re not done,” said Austin.