Johnny Johnson: Missouri man who killed girl, 6, after sexually assaulting her to be executed in August
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BONNE TERRE, MISSOURI: A man who sexually assaulted and killed a 6-year-old girl in 2002, will be put to death on August 1 this year at the state prison in Bonne Terre, Missouri. Johnny Johnson, 45, was staying with friends in Valley Park, Missouri, in July 2002 when Cassandra "Casey" Williamson was discovered missing. The girl's body was found after dozens of volunteers joined the police in the search. Williamson was found in a pit, less than a mile from her home, buried beneath rocks and debris.
Johnson later admitted to his crimes. Missouri has already executed two people in 2023, Amber McLaughlin in January and Raheem Taylor in February. Michael Andrew Tisius is scheduled for execution on June 6 for fatally shooting Randolph County jailers Jason Acton and Leon Egley in 2000.
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Johnson lured Casey
Johnson, a drifter, and ex-convict, was 24 when he killed Casey. He was reportedly invited to spend the night on the couch of a home on Benton Street in Valley Park, where Casey's father was staying. Johnson lured Casey from the house, down the street, and into a labyrinth of tunnels, old ovens, and underground rooms of an abandoned glass factory.
The girl resisted Johnson's sexual advances
Johnson later confessed to the police that Casey was killed with bricks and a heavy rock after she resisted his sexual advances. He washed himself off in the Meramec River and returned to the house on Benton to retrieve a pack of cigarettes. According to trial testimony presented by his defense, Johnson had stopped taking medication for schizophrenia and was acting strangely in the weeks and days before he killed Casey.
Johnson suffered from mental illnesses
Dr John Rabun said Johnson suffered from mental illnesses from the time he was 13 and suicidal. The initial diagnosis was depression but later he was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a disease similar to schizophrenia. Beverly Biemdiek, his defense attorney, asked the jury to convict him of the lesser charge of second-degree murder during the trial. He claimed the mental illness prevented Johnson from cool deliberation.
According to St Louis Post Dispatch, the then-prosecuting attorney, Robert P McCulloch, told jurors, "We are here for one reason and one reason only. We are here for what Johnny Johnson did. Don't let them guilt you into doing something. It was Johnny Johnson who bricked this little girl to death."
