Johnny Johson Wiki – Johnny Johson Biography
Immediately following the U.S. Supreme Court’s denial of a motion to halt the execution on the grounds that the condemned man was mentally incompetent, a man who kidnapped a 6-year-old Missouri girl and beat her to death in an abandoned factory two decades ago was executed Tuesday evening.
Authorities reported that Johnny Johnson, 45, died at 6:33 p.m. CDT after receiving a lethal injection of pentobarbital in a state prison in Bonne Terre. He was found guilty of killing Casey Williamson in the Valley Park neighborhood of St. Louis in July 2002.
Johnny Johso Age
Johnny Johson is 45 years old.
Johnny Johso Incident Detail
In a brief handwritten statement made public by the Department of Corrections hours before his execution, Johnson—who suffered from schizophrenia—expressed regret. God bless you. I’m sorry to the friends and family I offended,” Johnson stated in a statement.
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Johnson tilted his head to the left, appearing to listen to his spiritual advisor just before the injection started as he lay on his back with a sheet up to his neck. He didn’t move after that and instead turned to face ahead while keeping his eyes closed.
Several members of the girl’s family, the previous prosecutor, and the police investigator who worked on Johnson’s case were present when Johnson was put to death. A last-minute request to halt the execution was denied by the US Supreme Court, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor and two other justices disagreeing.
Johnson’s defenders have claimed in recent appeals that the prisoner had hallucinations about the devil exploiting his death to bring about the end of the world. Sotomayor and the three dissenting justices said in a statement after the stay request was denied, “The Court today paves the way for the execution of a man with documented mental illness before any court meaningfully investigates his competency to be executed.”
Executing a person who believes that Satan is killing him in order to bring about the end of the world is not a moral victory.The delusions were deemed “nonsense” by former St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch, who also said Johnson had perpetrated “unspeakable horrors” on others.
Moments before seeing the execution, McCulloch observed, “He’s got some difficulties — serious ones. Nevertheless, “he knew exactly what he was doing.” Before her body was discovered, a frenzied search for the girl had been launched when she vanished from Valley Park, where she lived, on July 26, 2002.
Johnson’s older sister and Casey’s mother were childhood closest friends, and Casey’s mother even assisted with babysitting Johnson. The night before the murder, Johnson went to a BBQ, and Casey’s family invited him to stay the night and sleep on a couch in the house with them.
According to court records, Johnson enticed the child, who was still in her nightgown, to the abandoned glass plant in the morning and even carried her there while he walked. Casey screamed and struggled to escape when he attempted to sexually abuse her. He used a brick and a sizable boulder to kill her, after which he washed his hands in the adjacent Meramec River. Authorities claim that Johnson admitted to the crimes that very day.
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Paul Neske, a former St. Louis County homicide investigator who spoke with Johnson extensively the day of Casey’s murder and saw him put to death, said of the case, “It was more vicious and nasty than any case I’ve ever seen. Casey’s body was discovered in a pit, covered in boulders and other debris, less than a mile (kilometer) from her home after a search by first responders and volunteers.
At Johnson’s trial, the defense submitted evidence demonstrating that their client, an ex-convict who had been released from a state psychiatric facility six months before to the killing, had stopped taking his medication for schizophrenia and was acting strangely in the days leading up to the murder.
The Missouri Supreme Court rejected an appeal in June that argued Johnson couldn’t have understood the connection between his crime and the penalty because of his schizophrenia. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals resumed execution plans last week after a three-judge federal appeals court panel temporarily delayed them.
Then Johnson’s counsel appealed his eligibility to be executed to the U.S. Supreme Court. A appeal to commute Johnson’s sentence to life in prison was rejected by Governor Mike Parson on Monday. Casey Williamson’s father, Ernie Williamson, was allegedly against the death penalty, according to the clemency petition filed by Johnson’s lawyers.
However, Della Steele, Casey’s great aunt, begged the governor in a heartfelt letter to carry out the execution in order to “send the message that it is not okay to terrorize and murder a child.” Steele claimed that the other family members’ grief over Casey’s passing had a negative impact. “He committed a terrible sin. There must be repercussions for the fact that he took the life of an innocent child, Steele recently told The Associated Press.
In Casey’s honor, the family has arranged many public safety fairs, including one on July 22 that attracted a few hundred attendees. Numerous child identification kits, as well as safety advice regarding bicycles, fire, and water, were distributed by the family. The execution marked the 16th to take place in the United States this year, following those in Missouri, Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, and Alabama.
After seeing the execution, Steele issued a statement that read, “It’s been a sad day, and a difficult 21 years. We will keep doing our best to improve the lives of other kids in order to commemorate our dear Casey’s memory.
