DeLand, FL – A DeLand man that police say confessed to killing his girlfriend says he’s not guilty in court.
Jeffrey S. Crivelli entered his plea Wednesday morning before 7th Circuit Judge Terence Perkins at the Volusia County Courthouse, nearly a month after he was extradited from Georgia to face trial in the murder of Brandi Johnson.
The 31-year-old man is being represented by the 7th Circuit Public Defender’s Office, according to court spokeswoman Ludmilla Lelis.
Crivelli – who is currently held without bond at Volusia County Jail on a second-degree murder charge – will next appear in court on September 14th for a pre-trial hearing.
The DeLand Police Department initially called Crivelli a “person of interest” after officers found Johnson bloody and dead in an apartment closet at the Lyn Gardens Apartments on June 10th.
DeLand PD Sergeant Chris Estes says officers went to the apartment complex on the corner of East Wisconsin Avenue and North Garfield Avenue around 1:45pm that day and that’s when the 33-year-old woman was found dead.
Johnson’s 4-year-old son was also found alive in the apartment by police, prompting them to notify the Florida Department of Children and Families.
A charging affidavit from DeLand PD shows Crivelli’s mother called police later on that day and told them her son had just called and told her he was leaving and going to a motel because he had killed his girlfriend.
Crivelli’s mom also told a 911 dispatcher that he told her it happened after Johnson had kicked him out during an argument the couple was having and that he wanted to have some time to enjoy being free before he turned himself in.
She also claimed during the call that Crivelli’s been taking Adderol lately and that’s led to some changes in his personality.
Authorities in Georgia found Crivelli later on at a motel in the Georgia city of Richmond Hill and took him into custody at that point.
DeLand PD still hasn’t given an official cause of death for Johnson. Estes also noted that their officers hadn’t been called out to deal with any issues between the couple prior to the murder.
VCJ records show Crivelli was previously booked 2 other times, most recently in February 2010 for domestic battery by strangulation. He was also arrested in October 2008, but his charge in that incident isn’t available on VCJ’s website.
Jeffrey S. Crivelli (mugshot courtesy Volusia County Jail)
Copyright 2015 Southern Stone Communications.
