Idaho prison death sentencing brings closure, but family’s fight isn’t over | Opinion
Friday’s sentencing in the brutal prison beating death of Milo Warnock brings a degree of closure to his family.
But their fight isn’t over.
“As far as a quest to see change, I think that’s going to be ongoing for the rest of our lives,” Kathy Warnock, Milo’s mom, told me after the sentencing of Milo’s killer, James M. Johnson.
The change they’d like to see is in the prison system.
“Our rage is more against the state and the situation,” Mike Warnock, Milo’s dad, told me after the sentencing.
Mike and Kathy and Milo’s sister, Hallie Johnson, all gave victim impact statements at the sentencing, expressing not only their anger at James Johnson, but at the Idaho Department of Correction and the state for helping to put Milo in the situation that ultimately led to his death.
“The state has an obligation to protect its citizens in custody, and in Milo’s case, it seems like it would have been simple enough to do that,” Kathy Warnock said in her victim impact statement. “The state failed both James and Milo. You can’t tell me the prison didn’t know that James had violent tendencies just as they knew that Milo was a non-violent minimum-level offender. Milo should have been protected from James, and James should have been protected from himself. ... It’s a tragedy for two families, and it’s unconscionable that this murder should have happened.”
The situation is a stark illustration of deep flaws in our system of incarceration, the practice of warehousing people with mental illness in prison and how prisoners are treated once they’re inside.
Milo, 45, was beaten to death by James Johnson, his cellmate in the Idaho State Correctional Center, on Dec. 10, 2023.
Milo’s family argues Milo probably shouldn’t have been in prison to begin with, as he was a low-level, non-violent offender who was arrested for DUI with a blood alcohol content of 0.11.
While awaiting trial, he rode a bike to work every day and never failed a urinalysis.
Nonetheless, he was sentenced to two years in prison in 2023.
Things only got worse.
Once in prison, Milo was caught “cheeking” his medication, which he was doing so that he could take his pills in the morning instead of at night. The family shared with me his written requests to have his medication schedule changed, not knowing the prison had discontinued using paper request forms.
As punishment, Milo was given a higher security rating and transferred to cell block G, which his family described as a dangerous environment.
It was there that he was put in a cell with James Johnson, who had been convicted of seven felonies and had a history of violence in jail and prison, and likely mental illness.
Milo expressed concerns to his family about his cellmate and attempted to help him, but ultimately, he was killed in a brutal beating at the hands of James Johnson, who eventually pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.
Judge Nancy Baskin on Friday sentenced Johnson to 35 years to life in prison, which the prosecution had requested.
During Friday’s sentencing hearing, James Johnson’s lawyer made the argument that Johnson suffered from undiagnosed and untreated mental illness, including possibly schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, suggesting that he, too, was a victim of the system.
James Johnson made a long, rambling and at times incoherent statement in his defense. He admitted to killing Milo and apologized to the Warnock family, but he also made a convoluted argument about being pushed to do it by Milo and years of police harassment.
It was sad and disturbing to witness, as he illustrated that Milo, indeed, never should have been stuck in a cell with him.
“When he testified, we really got an insight into his mental condition,” Mike Warnock said after the sentencing, his eyes still red and watery. “I guess that was the most that I got out of this that I wasn’t expecting. And it really jibed with what Milo was going through, jabbering constantly, you know, he never shut up.”
During their victim impact statements Friday, Milo’s family did not hold back in their disdain for James Johnson, laying the blame firmly at his feet.
But they acknowledged that in some ways, James Johnson was also a victim of the corrections system that put them both in the situation that ended in Milo’s death.
“While still a newly processed inmate, Milo, a 45-year-old, non-violent DUI offender, a person with health issues, was harshly punished for saving his medication,” Kathy Warnock said in her victim impact statement. “Now in maximum security, Milo knew that he was in over his head. Nothing in his life had prepared him for where he found himself.”
In her sentencing, Baskin also placed the blame firmly on James Johnson but let the family know that she heard what they were saying about the prison system.
She acknowledged that IDOC is an executive branch function, and she would not pass judgment on or tell the executive branch how to run the prisons.
But she added that as a member of society, she would hope that incarceration would be made safe, and that clearly didn’t happen in this situation.
She recommended that Johnson be placed in restrictive housing so that he doesn’t pose a danger to others, and that he receive mental health counseling and services.
Milo’s death was tragic and sad, but maybe it could do some good if it brings about changes. At the least, it should raise awareness of the problem of warehousing mentally ill people in prison and raise questions about how we handle low-level, nonviolent offenders like Milo, and how we treat prisoners once they’re inside.
“Now that Milo has been sacrificed, we fully realize that society must be protected from the whims of the James Johnsons of the world, but shouldn’t we also find consequences other than prison for our non-violent offenders, especially those who contribute to the economy and provide for their families?” Kathy Warnock said in her impact statement. “Our corrections system is expensive in more ways than one, and it harms those who suffer from societal problems that we fail to address.”
This story was originally published April 7, 2025 at 4:00 AM.
