CRIME 'Precious Doe' Murder Trial Begins

fruit loop

Inactive
LONG OVERDUE.

Rest in peace, Erica Michelle Maria Green.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/10/06/precious.doe.ap/index.html

Trial begins for man accused of killing 'Precious Doe'

Prosecutor: Defendant was high on drugs when he killed girlfriend's daughter

Man didn't seek help because he had a warrant for his arrest, District Attorney says

Defense says Harrell Johnson didn't intend for girl to die

Mother plead guilty, will testify against Johnson

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) -- A man went on trial for murder Monday in the death of a 3-year-old girl whose headless body was found in the woods and nicknamed "Precious Doe."

Special prosecutor Tim Dollar told jurors Monday that the man, Harrell Johnson, 29, was high on drugs when he knocked his girlfriend's daughter, Erica Green, to the floor after she refused to go to bed. Johnson, along with the girls' mother, did not seek medical help as the girl lay dying for nearly 10 hours.

Dollar told jurors that the couple refused to get assistance for Erica because they had outstanding warrants against them and didn't want to go to jail.

Prosecutors claim the couple eventually took the girl's body out of the house and that Johnson decapitated her and dumped the body in the woods.

Defense attorney Kenton Hall told jurors that Johnson didn't intend for the girl to die and can't be convicted of murder.

The girl's headless body was discovered in a wooded Kansas City park area in 2001, and a volunteer searcher found her head several days later. For four years, the case haunted residents who longed to know who the girl was and who could have killed her in such horrific fashion.

Erica was identified in 2005 through a tip given to a community activist who was among those who kept attention on the case.

Prosecutors plan to call Michelle Johnson, Erica's mother and Harrell Johnson's wife, as a witness. The two were married a year after Erica's death, but she pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last year and agreed to testify against her husband.

The trial is expected to last about a week. If convicted of first-degree murder, the only possible sentence for Harrell Johnson would be life in prison without parole. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty, partly because Johnson agreed to withdraw his request to have the case moved out of Kansas City
 

Richard

TB Fanatic
Defense attorney Kenton Hall told jurors that Johnson didn't intend for the girl to die and can't be convicted of murder.



what utter ****ing bullshit
 

SarahLynn

Veteran Member
This poor little girl, may she rest in peace.

This story is yet another testimonial to the oft-researched fact that women living common-law with a man other than their child(ren)s' biological father places their child at far greater risk of both mental/emotional and physical harm.
 

Richard

TB Fanatic
This poor little girl, may she rest in peace.

This story is yet another testimonial to the oft-researched fact that women living common-law with a man other than their child(ren)s' biological father places their child at far greater risk of both mental/emotional and physical harm.

true, many crimes against children are committed by step dads I guess
 

minkykat

Komplainy Kat
I am glad that little Erica not only got back her name but that she may get justice if only in that people will know how she came to be killed and her body dumped in such a manner.

"Precious Doe" was one of many featured cases on Doenetwork.org, a volunteer group that seeks to put names of the known missing with the faces of the unidentified deceased.

May Erica rest in peace.
 

fruit loop

Inactive
The Doe Network is made up of real angels. They've given peace to so many families.

The mom was a worse failure than the boyfriend IMO. She stood there and let her daughter be abused like that and did nothing. It was more important not to displease the boyfriend than to rescue her child. Her head, and her boyfriend's, belong on poles as an example to others.
 
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