Aja Johnson is still missing, and her life is in danger.  Investigators believe the 7-year-old was abducted by Lester Hobbs, 47, after her mother’s murder over the weekend.  The last time Aja or Hobbs were seen was Saturday, January 23, 2009 around 6 p.m.  Lester Hobbs is a convicted felon, and at one point Aja’s mom reported to police that he wanted to kill his daughter with a hammer.  Hobbs is currently wanted for a failure to appear warrant out of Lincoln County, Oklahoma for not showing up for his DUI case yesterday.  Investigators say they are also looking to question Hobbs for the murder of Tonya Hobbs, Aja’s mom.

Hobbs has a long criminal history, includes domestic violence, assault and battery with a deadly weapon, injury to a child, drug and many DUI arrests.  Police say Tonya’s body was found around 9 p.m. Sunday night, and her daughter and estranged husband were nowhere to be found. Hobbs was staying in an RV on his sister’s property.  Police say Tonya and Aja were visiting for the weekend, but Aja was not supposed to be in contact with Lester Hobbs and was supposed to have supervised visits only with her mother.

November 2009, Aja’s father, John J. Johnson filed an emergency order with the court to get custody of Aja, and was granted full custody.  In the official paperwork filed with the court, and signed by the judge on December 4, 2009, it states, “child shall not be left alone with Respondent (Tonya); the child shall not be around LESTER HOBBS, Respondent’s current husband.”  Also, child support was not awarded to her father at the time because of Tonya’s medical and financial situation, and because her father could financially support the child by himself.”  I spoke with attorney John Burke who represents Aja’s father, John Johnson.  He says his client allowed Tonya to take their daughter to a birthday party at a cousins house, or so he thought.  John says Tonya told him that if the birthday party ran late, she would want to keep the child overnight.  John packed an extra set of clothes, and sent enough medication to get the child through Saturday.  Aja suffers from sleep depervation, and takes medication to help her sleep.  Without the proper medication, it causes her to become behaviorly out of control.  Attorney John Burke says his client became very concerned around noon on Saturday when he could not track down Tonya or his daughter.

Aja has been enrolled in three different elementary schools since last year. I can confirm Aja was a student at the Davenport Elementary school up until she was transferred to the Newcastle school in Oklahoma.  I confirmed with the Newcastle Elementary school that Aja did in fact start first grade there, and was pulled out in October 2009.  I spoke to the principal, and she says Aja always wore her hair in a high ponytail, and she was very loving.  Aja is the kind of child if she knows you, she will run up and give you a big hug.  There are reports that Aja needs medication, and I was told that during her 6 weeks at that school the nurse never issued her any medication, and as far as they know she was not required to take any.  Aja was one of 863 children who attend the Pre-K-5 school. The school got word that Aja was going to attend school in Oklahoma City after she was withdrawn, and they were waiting for the new school to contact them, but they never got a call.  I did speak with the Communications Director of public schools in Oklahoma City, and I can confirm that Aja was enrolled in Parmelle Elementary School as of November 2009. I was told Aja does have a sister who is currently in middle school in Newcastle, but the Newcastle middle school cannot confirm or deny if the child is a student there.  Aja and her sister have two different fathers.

I spoke to one of the clerk’s at the Lincoln County Court in Oklahoma and I learned on August 6, 2009, Tonya Hobbs filed a protective order against her husband Lester Hobbs.  She was supposed to show up for a hearing on August 18, 2009, but never did, and he was never served – the protective order was dropped by the court.  I received the official petition paperwork, and Tonya Hobbs wrote in her own handwriting, “My husband has threatened to hit my daughter in the head with a hammer and kill them, he also threatened to kill me if I left him.”  The relief requested in the order states that Lester Hobbs is to have no contact with her in person or on the telephone anytime or any place, not to abuse, threaten, injure, assault, molest, stalk, harass, or otherwise interfere with Petitioner (Tonya).  Tonya also requested to have the car to use for doctor appointments.  It is to my understanding from investigators that the car was registered to both Tonya and Lester Hobbs.  The paperwork also claims there was a BB gun on the premises.

HEIGHT:  5′9″

WEIGHT:  185 pounds

EYES:  Hazel

HAIR:  Brown

Investigators say Hobbs could be driving a 1992 Toyota Paseo with OK license plates 577-BPW, and the car may have not have any hubcaps.  The back passenger window of the Toyota is covered with plastic. 

Please contact the Geronimo Police Department at this direct line, 580-355-1115 if you’ve seen Aja, Lester Hobbs or this vehicle.

Tags: Aja Johnson, Lester Hobbs, murder, Oklahoma, suspect, tonya hobbs

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 at 2:37 pm and is filed under amber alert, fugitive, missing child. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.