NYC woman who fatally tortured special-needs teen learns fate

The stricken sister of a tragic 15-year-old special-needs teen tortured to death by their “executioner’’ cousin told a Manhattan judge Monday that she still misses her “baby’’ every day.“I’m still waiting for a phone call to hear, ‘Hey, Sis, I miss you,’ ” an emotional Mykarsha Rogers told the judge — who ended up sentencing killer Johnette Booker to 20 years behind bars.Rogers’ sibling, Jallen McConnie, who was believed to be autistic, died in a hellhole home in the Wise Towers on West 94th Street and Columbus Avenue in June 2021 after horrific torture from the 43-year-old Booker, her brother and another male relative.Booker was convicted of manslaughter, assault and endangering the welfare of a child Feb 7 and sentenced to two decades in prison in Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday.The cruel cousin did not apologize in court for her actions, only telling the judge before her sentencing, “I appreciate you, and thank you for whatever you impose.”Jallen had lived in Georgia before Rogers sent him to live with Booker in the summer of 2021.

Booker immediately began brutalizing the doomed teen as part of what she referred to as “Cousins Boot Camp,” said Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg during sentencing.“She readily agreed to be his caretaker but instead was his executioner,” Blumberg seethed, while asking the court to impose a maximum 25-year sentence.“[Booker] took perverse pleasure in torturing Jallen for a month before his death,” the prosecutor said, saying the teen was repeatedly physically and mentally tortured under Booker’s “twisted” care.For 32 days, the child endured several beatings — including being brutalized with a belt at least 50 times — while also being forced to face the wall or exercise for hours and rarely allowed to leave the Upper West Side home.Jallen, who had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder, never stood a chance whi...