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Murder of Precious Taste and Deante Johnson

Police got calls about a shooting on Shaftbury Road in Dayton, Ohio, on May 22nd, 2024.

They found 32-year-old Precious Taste and 16-year-old Deante Johnson shot to death. Taste was about 14 weeks pregnant.

Her three-year-old twins were in the home at the time of the incident but were not harmed.

Police had witnesses and surveillance video, which revealed that Nicole “Nico” Cunigan Jr. had shot through an open window before hopping inside to fire more shots.

After that, he fled in Taste’s vehicle. Cunigan was Taste’s ex-boyfriend, the father of her twins, and the father of the baby she was carrying at the time.

He was charged with murder and several other felonies. He was arrested inside an abandoned home in July 2024 after a car chase and a foot pursuit.

Legal Proceedings

When Cunigan went to trial in August 2025, prosecutors portrayed him as jealous, obsessive, and said he stalked Taste.

They presented a text message to the court in which Cunigan told Taste, ‘I’m watching your every movement. You better not touch anyone else.’

More text reveals that Taste was worried about Cunighan having a gun.

She told him, “that’s y I don’t like him he gave u his gun to kill me.”

Cunighan told her, “I would never kill u.”

A witness took the stand, saying he heard fighting prior to the shots ringing out.

Cunigan’s father told the court that one of his guns went missing around the time of the crime.

Prosecutors also had surveillance of him showing up at the home at 6 am on the day of the shooting. He left and returned 15 minutes later and went on his violent rampage.

Many expected Cunigan to testify, but he declined to take the stand, and his defense didn’t call any witnesses.

The defense attempted to sow seeds of reasonable doubt during closing arguments by stating that none of the witnesses positively identified the “picture of the person at the window” as Cunigan.

The jury required only three hours of deliberation to reach a verdict.

On August 8th, 2025, his peers convicted him of four counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault, and single counts of involuntary manslaughter, domestic violence, tampering with evidence, and unauthorized use of a vehicle.

Sentencing

Cunigan returned to court on August 29th, 2025, for sentencing.

Taste’s brother spoke directly to Cunigan, telling him could have just walked away.

Cunigan was sentenced to 39 years in prison for his crimes.

As he was led out of the courtroom, he didn’t seem to have a care in the world and smiled as he exchanged words with his family and the victim’s family.