Man pleads guilty to murdering former foster mother, another man

A man who was a teen in the Philadelphia foster care system pleaded guilty to killing his foster mother and another man living with them, according to court documents.

Xavier Johnson was 17-years-old when he tried to rob 64-year-old Renee Gilyard and 20-year-old Jimmy Mao before he ultimately killed them, police said at the time.

Homicide detectives described the killings as brutal.

Johnson pleaded guilty to murder in the third degree, robbery-inflict serious bodily injury and possession of an instrument of crime as well as other related charges, according to court documents.

Gilyard, the mother of a Philadelphia police officer, was found dead on January 15, 2020, in her East Germantown home, officials said. She was stabbed twice in the neck inside a bathroom. Her purse was emptied and SUV was taken.

Johnson was placed in her home three days before the killings. Police caught up with him in West Philadelphia later that morning when he crashed the missing SUV following a short police pursuit.

Mao was stabbed in the face and neck, police officials reported. His body was placed in a black duffel bag and thrown down a hill in Southwest Philadelphia. It was recovered in the evening of the same day.

Officials at the time said that Mao and Johnson previously lived together in a different foster home on the 5800 block of Angora Terrace. It was near where Mao's body was located.

A spokesperson for DHS told NBC10 at the time of the murders that they couldn't discuss the specifics of the case due to confidentiality laws but they did release a statement on the two murders.

"We are heartbroken over the recent deaths," a spokesperson wrote. "Foster parents are unsung heroes, providing safe and loving homes for children in their care and service to the community."

Officials said that Johnson had five arrests prior to this incident that included aggravated assault.