A man has been sentenced to more than 17 years in prison for attempting to kill an Arizona Department of Child Safety caseworker in Mesa, all the while livestreaming the incident over Facebook.

A jury recently convicted Deandre Johnson of one count of attempt to commit first-degree murder, a class two felony; four misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct; and one count of unlawful flight from law enforcement, a class five felony.

In November 2024, the caseworker met with Johnson in the lobby of a building in Mesa where DCS has offices. Johnson was angry with the caseworker for interviewing his daughter alone in a room during an investigation, according to a press release from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.

“When the discussion ended, the caseworker got up and started walking away. Johnson came up behind him and used both arms to put him in a chokehold while repeatedly telling the victim he was a ‘dead man,’” the release continued.

The victim was kept in a chokehold for approximately 2 minutes and 30 seconds, and lost consciousness.

“Johnson dropped the caseworker’s limp body on the floor but started choking the victim again after realizing he was still breathing,” the release stated. “Johnson livestreamed the entire interaction with the caseworker — including the attack — on Facebook.”

After “finally letting the victim go, Johnson tried to intimidate” people who witnessed the attack and tried to stop it.

Johnson was arrested hours later by Mesa Police after a pursuit.

“It’s not just the violence of this crime, but that he livestreamed it for the world to see, that makes it so alarming,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell stated in the release. “There is no justification for this defendant’s ambush attack on someone who was simply doing his job to protect kids.”