Man accused of attacking DCS caseworker in Mesa faces felony charges. What we know

A Facebook livestream of a physical attack from earlier this week left an Arizona Department of Child Safety employee in the hospital and a Scottsdale father in jail. De'Andre Terrell Johnson, 32, is facing charges of suspicion of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault of a judicial officer, aggravated assault with physical injury and unlawful flight from pursuing law enforcement vehicle, charging documents show.

Johnson was meeting on Tuesday with a DCS caseworker in the lobby of a building in the area of South Alma School Road and West Southern Avenue in Mesa, court documents said. At the end of their discussion, Johnson put the caseworker in a chokehold and used his cellphone to livestream the 21⁄2-minute assault on Facebook, charging documents said.

Here's what we know about the case.

What happened during the livestream?

The livestream video shows the caseworker quickly staring at the phone as the attack suspect brings him to the floor. The incident came to a halt sometime before police arrived after they received multiple calls about an attack, court documents said.

"You's a dead man," Johnson is heard saying and then later adds, "You still breathing?" according to court documents.

The charging documents describe the caseworker during the attack as having his eyes bulging, drooling and his arm muscles tensing.

On Thursday, a Republic reporter saw a uniformed man sitting at a reception desk at the building where the attack took place. Neither the building's property manager nor the property management company that oversees the high rise responded to The Republic about whether a security guard was present during the attack.

How is the caseworker doing?

The victim's injuries were "absolutely serious, he almost died," a doctor told police, court documents said.The caseworker was taken to the hospital, from which he has since been released, DCS told The Arizona Republic on Wednesday.

What led to the incident?

An Oct. 31 video posted by an account with a username matching Johnson, shows who appears to be the attacker in the livestream walking into a school. The man questions school employees after his 9-year-old daughter told him she didn't want to return to school following an interview by a DCS employee in a private room. After school staff said they could not explain the DCS employee's actions, Johnson called the police.

Speaking with an officer, Johnson asked, "How would you feel if somebody took your daughter in a room, a man took your daughter in a room?"

The officer informed him that he would need to contact DCS directly to get more information about the interview.

Johnson said that he would understand a wellness check if his daughter had clear signs of harm, like bruises, and that no parent would fault those actions in those circumstances and ended the video.

In a short video posted a few days before the attack, Johnson shouted that he was upset about the entire situation.

When he eventually posted the video of the attack, he captioned it, "I found the man." The Republic was not able to immediately verify that it was the same man.

What protections does DCS have for its employees?

DCS did not immediately address questions regarding its policies on parental consent and procedures for interviewing minors.

The child safety agency told The Republic there were no security personnel with the caseworker due in part to cost-cutting efforts.

"The Department is committed to keeping our staff safe as they carry out this essential work, and we are conducting a comprehensive review of this incident in an effort to prevent it from happening again," read an email from DCS spokesman Darren DaRonco.

In response to a question on the matter of personnel safety, DaRonco told The Republic he would review if there have been any other attacks or threats made to agency employees this year.

Where is Johnson now?

Johnson was apprehended within a few hours in Scottsdale after he led police on a chase following an attempted traffic stop by detectives from Mesa, charging documents noted. Johnson is being held at a Maricopa County jail on a $500,000 bond, according to court records.

In a separate, unrelated case, Maricopa County jurors in 2017 found Johnson guilty of aggravated assault with temporary but substantial disfigurement.

What is state government saying about the incident?

Gov. Katie Hobbs' office on Thursday released a statement describing the incident as "cruel and unacceptable."

"As a social worker, Gov. Hobbs knows that the work DCS employees do is extremely challenging and often thankless. But it should not be dangerous," read the statement from Hobbs' spokesperson, Christian Slater. "Gov. Hobbs is committed to ensuring a safe environment for all DCS workers as they help vulnerable children and their families navigate difficult circumstances. The safety of these workers is absolutely essential to our mission to strengthen families and help children thrive."