An Ohio jury has convicted 33-year-old Nicole “Nico” Cunigan on 10 counts, including murder and felonious assault, for the brutal killings of his pregnant ex-girlfriend and a teenage boy. Prosecutors say jealousy and obsession fueled the deadly attack.
The victims, 32-year-old Precious Taste, her unborn child, and 16-year-old family friend Deante Johnson, were gunned down inside Taste’s Dayton home in the early hours of May 22, 2024. According to courtroom testimony reported by WHIO, Cunigan forced his way into the house around 6 a.m. while Taste’s children were inside.
Prosecutors said Taste was shot as she ran down the stairs trying to escape. Johnson was found dead in a bed under some covers, killed where he lay. An adult and Taste’s then-4-year-old twins were also in the home but were not physically injured. Authorities said Taste was about four months pregnant at the time.
She and Cunigan had ended their relationship, but after the breakup, he allegedly became fixated on her. Prosecutors presented threatening text messages sent by Cunigan in the weeks leading up to the murders. “There’s a text message, ‘I’m watching your every movement. You better not touch anyone else,'” Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Anthony Schoen told jurors during closing arguments.
Johnson’s death devastated his family, who said he had no connection to the dispute between Cunigan and Taste. “Why go after a 16-year-old that you didn’t even know?” Johnson’s mother, Jennifer Louis, asked in a WHIO interview just two weeks after the shooting. “… People will never be the same anymore, we won’t. We can try to make it better, but we will never be the same.”
Cunigan fled after the killings and remained on the run for nearly two months before U.S. Marshals tracked him down in Cleveland. During the trial, prosecutors painted a picture of a man consumed by jealousy and willing to kill to control the woman he could no longer have.
The jury’s guilty verdict covered charges related to both victims as well as the death of Taste’s unborn child. After the verdict was read, Taste’s mother said she felt some relief knowing her daughter’s killer had been held accountable, but the pain remains.
“The kids still don’t have a mother, so it’s been very rough,” she said through tears. Cunigan will be sentenced on August 29. He faces the possibility of life in prison without parole. The case has drawn widespread attention in Ohio, both for the shocking nature of the crime and for the senseless killing of a teen who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.