Murder fantasist gets up to life in prison for killing 70-year-old Upper West Side neighbor

A Manhattan woman who fantasized about murdering someone -- and then killed her 70-year-old neighbor -- in a 2018 bloodbath has been sentenced to 20 years to life in state prison, prosecutors announced Thursday.

Anya Johnston, 29, was convicted in March of murder in the second degree in the Oct. 21, 2018 death of Susan Trott, whose neck was found cut after police followed a trail of blood from her Upper West Side living room to her bedroom. The two lived in the same apartment building, Johnston a floor above her victim.

On that October day, prosecutors say Johnston, who had mental health issues, ran some errands in the afternoon, including closing her bank account.

Later that day, she returned home and went to Trott’s apartment, carrying a backpack that contained two knives and latex gloves, according to trial testimony. While inside, she took out one of the knives and stabbed Trott in her lower back. She also stabbed her in the neck, killing her. Johnston then went back to her apartment and hid her backpack in a nearby stairwell before leaving the building, prosecutors said.

Cops found Trott after her business partner called 911, saying she hadn't been seen in days. She was pronounced dead at the scene, police said at the time.

The next day, officers executing a search warrant at Johnston's home recovered clothing and sneakers she had been wearing during the killing. DNA testing showed the clothes were stained with Trott's blood.

Johnston was arrested a week after her death.

“Anya Johnston callously took the life of her neighbor Susan Trott, a lifelong New Yorker with a kind-hearted, generous spirit,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. “To Ms. Trott’s family and loved ones, Johnston robbed them of a friend, mentor and business partner. Since her loss, they have experienced overwhelming emotional pain, and I hope today’s sentence can offer them a sense of justice knowing Johnston has been held accountable.”  

Neighbors said Trott lived in the building for more than a decade. They described her as an animal lover who was well known in the neighborhood.

Another neighbor, Helen Stein, described Trott as generous, a bit eccentric and a woman with strong opinions.