Man Murdered Underage Coworker In Break Room After She Rebuffed His Advances

A Colorado man has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder after he reportedly killed his 17-year-old co-worker after she rebuffed his romantic advances on Saturday, June 11.

Joshua Johnson, 28, faces first-degree murder charges in the death of 17-year-old Riley Whitelaw after the victim was found dead by a store manager on the floor of the break room in a Walgreens located in Centennial Boulevard in northern Colorado Springs on Saturday, June 11. The store was where Johnson and Whitelaw reportedly worked together, New York Post reported.

On Saturday, June 11, Johnson was caught on surveillance video stacking boxes to block a camera in the break room. On the same day, Whitelaw’s body was found in a gruesome scene on the floor of that same room with a large amount of blood around the head of the victim. Officers also reportedly found her ID badge and a radio earpiece near her feet. Even though the authorities have not revealed Whitelaw’s official cause of death, police officers said that she “suffered significant trauma to her neck area.”

When the investigating officers questioned the store managers, one manager revealed that while they were looking for Whitelaw, she checked outside by a dumpster and smelled a “strong odor of bleach." When she attempted to open the door, she heard a male voice saying that he was changing, the Daily News reported.

Johnson was later stopped by state troopers while he was walking along Interstate 25 with scratches on his face and hands. When questioned, Johnson told the officers that he had been attacked at the Walgreens in Colorado Springs and that he had “fallen in the blood” and went home to change.

Johnson subsequently “admitted to the officers that he had a crush on Riley at one time. However, he stated he no longer had a crush on her because he was intimate” with one of the managers.

About a year before the murder, Whitelaw had reported to her manager that Johnson made her uncomfortable and that he made advances toward her. Whitelaw then asked the manager whether she can work different hours than Johnson, and the managers allowed it.

However, recently, Whitelaw had asked for more hours. Despite the managers warning her that working more hours would mean working with Johnson, she agreed to it.

In addition to this, it was also revealed that Walgreens had hired Whitelaw’s boyfriend about three months ago and that Johnson appeared to be jealous of the victim's beau.

Johnson is due back in court on June 21.