Murder of Casey Williamson

Last updated
Casey Williamson
Casey Williamson.png
Casey Williamson, pictured before her death
Born
Cassandra Lynn Williamson

(1995-11-23)November 23, 1995
Valley Park, Missouri, U.S.
DiedJuly 26, 2002(2002-07-26) (aged 6)
Valley Park, Missouri, U.S.
Cause of deathFatal head injuries
Resting placeSacred Heart Cemetery
Other namesCasey Williamson
EducationValley Park Elementary School
OccupationStudent (former)
Known forVictim of a kidnapping-murder case
Parents
  • Ernie Williamson (father)
  • Angie Williamson (mother)

On July 26, 2002, 6-year-old Cassandra "Casey" Lynn Williamson (born November 23, 1995), disappeared from her hometown of Valley Park, Missouri. After an extensive search, her body was found at an abandoned glass factory. Subsequently, investigations led to the arrest of Johnny Allen Johnson (born March 16, 1978), who was a family acquaintance. Johnson, who confessed to murdering the girl while he attempted to rape her, was convicted and sentenced to death in 2005. Despite his claims of mental illness, which were all rejected by the courts, Johnson was eventually executed on August 1, 2023. [1]

Contents

Disappearance and murder

On July 26, 2002, at Valley Park in St. Louis County, Missouri, a six-year-old girl was abducted from her home by a family acquaintance.

Cassandra Williamson, affectionately known as "Casey", was last seen before 7am at the kitchen by her father Ernie Williamson, who noticed her missing after he came back from the bathroom. At the time of Williamson's disappearance, Ernie was separated from his wife Angie and lived across the street just to remain close with his children, and he happened to be staying over when he found out his daughter went missing. After about 30 minutes since Williamson's disappearance, Williamson's parents reported her missing. The authorities, including local police, St. Louis County deputy sheriffs and FBI agents, conducted the search for the missing girl, and many members of the community volunteered to look for Williamson. [2] [3]

Subsequently, the police received information from witnesses that they saw the girl being carried away by a man, who was identified as 24-year-old Johnny Allen Johnson (alias Movant), who was a friend of the Williamson family. Williamson's mother was a childhood best friend of Johnson's older sister and even helped babysit Johnson during his childhood years. In fact, the night before the girl went missing, Johnson attended a barbecue at Williamson's house and the family allowed him to spend the night, and he slept on the couch; Johnson himself was found to be absent at the time when Williamson gone missing. Evidence showed that just six months ago, Johnson was released from a state psychiatric facility, where he was confined due to schizophrenia. [2] [4] [5]

Johnson was therefore brought in for police questioning and he denied being involved in the disappearance of Williamson. Subsequently, Johnson admitted that he was responsible for murdering Williamson and admitted that he took the girl out to an abandoned glass factory near the girl's home, where he killed her. Williamson's corpse was eventually found in a pit less than a mile from her home by one of the volunteers that joined the search for the girl. An autopsy revealed that Williamson died from blunt force injuries to her head, which caused skull fractures and bruising of her scalp and brain. Furthermore, there were other injuries to the arms, shoulders, legs, and back, and signs of semen were found on the shorts of Johnson, which indicated that he had likely sexually assaulted the girl. [2] [6]

Upon the discovery of the girl's body, Johnson was arrested and detained for investigations into the murder of Casey Williamson. Based on further investigations, Johnson, who was previously convicted of burglary before the murder, was found to have abducted the girl and took her to an abandoned glass factory, where he attempted to rape Williamson. However, as Williamson resisted his advances, Johnson used a brick and large rock to hit Williamson on the head more than once and consequently battered six-year-old Casey Williamson to death. After the killing, Johnson abandoned the body of the girl at the pit, and even washed himself at the nearby Meramec River. [2] [7]

A memorial was held for the girl on July 30, 2002. Mourners, including Williamson's friends and members of the public, gathered at Twin Oaks Presbyterian Church to pay respects, and the memorial was broadcast live on television. [8] [9] [10]

Trial of Johnny Johnson

Johnny Allen Johnson
Johnny Allen Johnson.png
Johnny Allen Johnson, who was convicted of the murder of Casey Williamson
Born(1978-03-16)March 16, 1978
Missouri, U.S.
DiedAugust 1, 2023(2023-08-01) (aged 45)
Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center, Missouri, U.S.
Cause of deathExecuted by lethal injection
Conviction(s) First-degree murder
Armed criminal action
Kidnapping
Attempted forcible rape
Criminal penaltyMurder
Death
Other charges
Life imprisonment (x3)
Details
VictimsCasey Williamson, 6
DateJuly 26, 2002
Location(s) Valley Park, Missouri
Imprisoned at Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center

After his arrest, Johnny Johnson was charged with the kidnapping, attempted rape and murder of Casey Williamson. Under Missouri state law, Johnson faced the death penalty or life imprisonment should he be found guilty of the most serious charge of first-degree murder in the case of Williamson's death. [11] [12]

Johnson's trial took place about two years after his arrest. Standing trial before a St. Louis County jury, Johnson never denied that he murdered Williamson, but his main defence was diminished responsibility. Johnson's lawyers sought to argue that as a result of his psychiatric disorders, including schizoaffective disorder, Johnson's state of mind at the time of the murders was severely impaired and he killed Williamson after experiencing hallucinations, and he was not capable of planning the murder. A psychiatrist diagnosed Johnson with schizoaffective disorder and testified on his behalf, and Johnson's girlfriend testified that Johnson stopped taking his medication and had been acting paranoid during the period leading up to the murder. [2] [13]

In rebuttal, the prosecution called upon psychiatric experts who testified that Johnson was still capable of deliberation and his mental responsibility had not been affected by any psychiatric illnesses, and it was not likely that Johnson would experience any psychosis that resulted in hallucinations that drove him into murdering Williamson; it was also speculated that any hallucinations possibly explored by Johnson during the course of the murder was caused by drug intoxication rather than psychiatric conditions. [2]

On January 18, 2005, the 12-member jury found Johnson guilty of the murder of Williamson, [14] and he was sentenced to death on March 7, 2005, in addition to three consecutive life sentences for the other charges of armed criminal action, kidnapping, and attempted forcible rape. [2]

Appeal process

On November 7, 2006, the Missouri Supreme Court rejected Johnny Johnson's appeal against the death sentence and murder conviction. [2]

On November 20, 2012, Johnson appealed once again to the Missouri Supreme Court, but his motion was denied by the court. [15] About two months later, a follow-up appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court was rejected again on January 29, 2013. [16]

On February 28, 2020, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri dismissed Johnson's appeal. [17]

Death warrant and execution

On April 20, 2023, the Missouri Supreme Court approved the death warrant of Johnny Johnson, whose death sentence was scheduled to be carried out on August 1, 2023. [18] [19]

As a final resort to escape the death penalty, Johnson filed last minute appeals to challenge his execution, stating that he was incompetent to be executed due to his schizophrenia, and his lawyers urged the courts to consider that it had affected his state of mind when the murder of Williamson happened, and added that he experienced delusions about the devil using his death to bring about the end of the world. The Missouri Supreme Court rejected the appeal on June 8, 2023. [20] [21] [22]

On July 17, 2023, District Judge Matthew T. Schelp of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri dismissed the appeal of Johnson to delay his execution. [23] [24] On July 26, 2023, however, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily postponed the execution by a split decision of 2–1. [25] However, the Missouri Attorney General's Office appealed against the ruling, and on July 29, 2023, a re-hearing convened before a different panel at the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the stay order was overturned, allowing the execution to move forward. [26] [27] The U.S. Supreme Court also refused to allow Johnson's appeal and confirmed his death sentence. [28]

As a final resort to escape the death penalty, Johnson petitioned for clemency from the state governor, with hopes that his death sentence could be commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole. On the eve of the execution, Missouri Governor Mike Parson also rejected Johnson's clemency plea and ordered the execution to move forward as scheduled. [29] Out of Williamson's family, her father opposed executing Johnson due to his opposition to the death penalty, [30] but others, including Williamson's great aunt Della Steele, wanted Johnson to be put to death. Steele urged the governor to not show mercy for Johnson as she felt that justice should be served and instead of turning back, Johnson made the conscious choice of kidnapping and murdering Williamson and caused destruction to the lives of those around her forever. [31] [32]

On August 1, 2023, 45-year-old Johnny Allen Johnson was put to death via lethal injection at Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre. [33]

Prior to his execution, Johnson reportedly ordered a final meal of one bacon cheeseburger, curly fries and a strawberry shake. [34] In a brief handwritten last statement, Johnson expressed remorse for the murder and said, "God Bless. Sorry to the people and family I hurt." Johnson was pronounced dead at 6.33pm after he was administered with a single dose of pentobarbital. [35]

Johnson was the fourth person to be executed in Missouri and overall the 16th condemned criminal to be put to death in the U.S. during the year of 2023. [36]

Aftermath

In the aftermath, the abandoned glass factory where the murder happened was demolished in August 2002. [37] In memory of Williamson, her bereaved loved ones established a scholarship, and an annual community safety fair in her name, and provided child identification kits in these events. [38] [39]

In 2022, a crime documentary titled The Worst Crime was released on Amazon Prime Video, which covered the case of Casey Williamson's abduction and murder. A former juror had expressed in the documentary that even after a decade since the crime that the killing was the worst possible crime ever witnessed. [40]

During the final days before the execution, the family of Williamson spoke up in the media about their feelings towards the case. Williamson's mother, who had since divorced her then husband and engaged with another man, stated that the impact of her daughter's murder was so much that Williamson's oldest sister (aged 12 at the time of the murder) had begun abusing drugs and alcohol, and died in 2015 due to substance overdose, and Williamson's two younger siblings (aged two and four at the time of the murder) had struggled with mental illnesses and making relationships with other people. Another relative revealed that Williamson's grandfather similarly turned to alcoholism due to his grief of losing a granddaughter and died. Williamson's mother told the press that while she wanted Johnson to be executed for killing her daughter, she sympathized with his family and felt they did not deserve the blame for Johnson's actions. [41]

See also

Related Research Articles

Wrongful execution is a miscarriage of justice occurring when an innocent person is put to death by capital punishment. Opponents of capital punishment often cite cases of wrongful execution as arguments, while proponents argue that innocence concerns the credibility of the justice system as a whole and does not solely undermine the use of the death penalty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Ann Harrison</span> 1989 murder in Missouri, United States

Ann Marie Harrison was a 15-year-old American girl who was kidnapped, raped, and murdered by two men in Raytown, Missouri. On March 22, 1989, Harrison was abducted from outside her home as she waited for the school bus. She was taken to a house where she was raped by her abductors before being stabbed to death in the trunk of a car. Her two killers: Michael Anthony Taylor and Roderick Nunley were executed for the crime by the state of Missouri via lethal injection, in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Mercer</span> American murderer executed in Missouri in 1989

George C. "Tiny" Mercer was an American man who was convicted for the rape and murder of 22-year-old Karen Keeton in Belton, Missouri, on August 31, 1978. At the time of the murder, Mercer had a charge pending against him of raping a 17-year-old girl. He was executed at the age of 44 by the state of Missouri by lethal injection. He became the first person to be executed in Missouri since 1965. His execution was carried out in the former gas chamber which was converted to use lethal injection.

Christa Gail Pike is an American convicted murderer, and the youngest woman to be sentenced to death in the United States during the post-Furman period. She was 20 when convicted of the torture murder of her classmate Colleen Slemmer, which she committed at age 18.

Romell Broom was an American death row inmate who was convicted of murder, kidnapping and rape. He was sentenced to death for the 1984 murder of 14-year-old Tryna Middleton. Broom was scheduled to be executed on September 15, 2009, but after executioners failed to locate a vein he was granted a reprieve. A second execution attempt was scheduled for June 2020, which was delayed until March 2022. Broom died from COVID-19 in prison before the sentence could be carried out.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Felicia Gayle</span> 1998 murder in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.

Felicia "Lisha" Anne Gayle Picus was an American journalist murdered during a burglary in her gated community in University City, Missouri, on August 11, 1998. Gayle, a 42-year-old reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, was found dead in her home, having been stabbed up to 43 times with a butcher's knife taken from her kitchen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald Bordelon</span> American murderer (1962–2010)

Gerald James Bordelon was an American convicted murderer and sex offender who was executed in Louisiana for murder. Bordelon was sentenced to death for the kidnapping and murder of Courtney LeBlanc, his 12-year-old stepdaughter. Bordelon waived his appeals and asked to be executed, saying he would commit a similar crime again if he was ever given the opportunity. Bordelon was executed at Louisiana State Penitentiary on January 7, 2010, becoming the first person executed in Louisiana since 2002 and the state's first voluntary execution. He remains the most recent person executed in Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernest Lee Johnson</span> American criminal (1960–2021)

Ernest Lee Johnson was an American criminal convicted and executed for the murder of three convenience store employees in Boone County, Missouri in 1994. Johnson's execution by lethal injection proved controversial, as a 2008 surgery had removed up to 20 percent of his brain tissue, leaving Johnson permanently cognitively disabled.

Kevin Johnson Jr. was an American man executed in Missouri for the 2005 murder of police officer William McEntee. Johnson's case has partly drawn attention because his daughter, Khorry Ramney, was not allowed to witness her father's execution due to her age (19), the same age Johnson was when he committed the crime for which he was sentenced to death. Indeed, a law in Missouri prohibited people under the age of 21 from attending an execution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Pamela Butler</span> 1999 murder in Missouri, USA

Pamela Irene Butler was a ten-year-old American girl who was kidnapped, raped, and murdered by Keith Dwayne Nelson in October 1999. Nelson kidnapped Butler while she was rollerblading in front of her house in Kansas City, Kansas. He then took her to a forest in Grain Valley, Missouri, where he raped her before strangling her to death with a wire. Nelson pleaded guilty to the charges pertaining to the murder of Butler and he was sentenced to death by a federal jury in November 2001. Nelson was incarcerated for nearly 21 years before he was put to death by lethal injection on August 28, 2020, becoming the fifth person to be executed by the U.S. federal government after the resumption of federal executions in July 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Layla Cummings</span> 1984 kidnapping, rape, and murder of a girl in Elk City, Oklahoma

On July 6, 1984, in Elk City, Oklahoma, 7-year-old Layla Cummings was abducted, raped, and murdered by Richard Norman Rojem Jr., who was previously convicted and jailed for sex offenses. Rojem, who was formerly married to Cummings's mother before their divorce, was convicted of murdering Cummings and sentenced to death in 1985. Rojem, who failed in multiple attempts to overturn his death sentence, was incarcerated on death row for close to 40 years before he was executed via lethal injection on June 27, 2024, after the state parole board rejected his appeal for clemency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Leesa Gray</span> 2001 kidnapping, rape, and murder of a teenage girl in Mississippi, U.S.

On the night of June 22, 2000, 16-year-old Leesa Marie Gray was abducted by Marine Corps recruiter Thomas Edwin Loden Jr. after she finished her shift at a restaurant in Dorsey, Mississippi. Loden held Gray captive inside his van, where he sexually abused her several times before he murdered her by strangling and suffocating her during the early morning hours of June 23, 2000. On that afternoon, Gray's naked body was found inside Loden's van, and Loden himself was found lying on the roadside with the words "I'm sorry" carved into his chest and self-inflicted cut wounds on his wrists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 New Bloomfield murders</span> 2006 double murder of a couple in New Bloomfield, Missouri

On December 23, 2006, in New Bloomfield, Missouri, 25-year-old Sarah Ann Bonnie and her 28-year-old husband Benjamin Wade Bonnie were both shot and murdered by her 34-year-old cousin Brian Joseph Dorsey, whom they hid at her house to help him evade the drug dealers who were searching for him to collect their debts. After surrendering himself to the police, Dorsey was found guilty of the double murder and sentenced to death in 2008. After losing his appeals and clemency plea, Dorsey was executed on April 9, 2024, 18 years after the murders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Ronald Johnson</span> 2011 murder of a corrections officer in South Dakota

On April 12, 2011, at the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, 63-year-old corrections officer Ronald Johnson was attacked and murdered by two inmates who were in the midst of a prison escape. They were later apprehended by other correctional officers while attempting to disguise themselves. The two prisoners, Eric Robert and Rodney Berget, were charged with murdering Johnson and were sentenced to death by the courts of South Dakota. Robert, who waived his right to appeal, was executed on October 15, 2012, while Berget, whose brother was sentenced to death in Oklahoma in 1987, was executed six years later on October 29, 2018. A third prisoner, Michael Nordman, who provided the murder weapons, was sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to his role in the murder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Rowan Ford</span> 2007 rape and murder of a young girl in Missouri, U.S.

On November 3, 2007, in Stella, Missouri, United States, nine-year-old Rowan Damia Ford went missing from her house. Six days after her disappearance, Ford's body was found in a cave at McDonald County, Missouri, and forensic reports showed that Ford was raped and strangled to death.

On July 29, 1997, in Houston, Texas, 48-year-old Nancy Adleman, a mother of three, was abducted and murdered while jogging. Her body was found in a forested area along Brays Bayou the day after she failed to return home. Adleman's murderer, Arthur Lee Burton, was later arrested and charged with her murder. Burton confessed that he had kidnapped and attempted to rape Adleman, ultimately strangling her with her own shoelaces. Although Burton later retracted his confession, claiming he admitted to the crime under duress and had an intellectual disability, he was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death in 1998. Burton was executed at age 54 on August 7, 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Hosier</span> American convicted murderer and former soldier (1955–2024)

David Russell Hosier was an American ex-soldier who was convicted of the murder of his ex-lover Angela Gilpin in 2009. Hosier had killed both Angela and her husband Rodney Gilpin out of anger due to his then girlfriend having reconciled with her husband despite their romantic relationship that lasted for years, although Hosier protested his innocence. Hosier was put on trial and found guilty, and sentenced to death on November 27, 2013. Hosier spent 11 years on death row before he was executed by lethal injection on June 11, 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Bridget Townsend</span> 2001 kidnapping, rape and murder of a teenage girl in Texas

On January 15, 2001, 17-year-old Bridget Townsend, the girlfriend of a local drug dealer, disappeared from her boyfriend's home in Bandera County, San Antonio, Texas.

References

  1. ↑ "Missouri executes man who killed 6-year-old Valley Park girl in 2002". St. Louis Post-Dispatch . August 1, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 STATE v. JOHNSON [2006], Supreme Court of Missouri (United States).
  3. ↑ "Missouri man set to be executed for beating death of 6-year-old girl in 2002". The Independent . August 1, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Missouri executes man for 2002 abduction, killing of 6-year-old girl lured to abandoned factory". CBS News. August 1, 2023.
  5. ↑ "St. Louis Area Girl Found Dead After Disappearing From Home". Los Angeles Times. July 27, 2002.
  6. ↑ "Suspect accused in abduction, slaying". Southeast Missourian . July 28, 2002.
  7. ↑ "Missouri executes man in 2002 slaying of 6-year-old girl". UPI. August 1, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Roses And A Kiss Goodbye For Casey". CBS News. July 30, 2002.
  9. ↑ "Memorial for slain girl". Southeast Missourian . July 30, 2002.
  10. ↑ "Family, community, say goodbye to 6-year-old murder victim". Southeast Missourian . July 31, 2002.
  11. ↑ "Police Say Girl Who Was Killed Left Willingly With Suspect". The New York Times . July 28, 2002.
  12. ↑ "Man facing charges in Missouri girl's killing". The Victoria Advocate. July 28, 2002.
  13. ↑ "Trial continues in man accused of child's killing". The Nevada Daily Mail. January 16, 2005.
  14. ↑ "Jurors convict man in slaying of 6-year-old girl". The Nevada Daily Mail. January 18, 2005.
  15. ↑ JOHNSON v. STATE [2012], Supreme Court of Missouri (United States).
  16. ↑ JOHNSON v. STATE [2013], Supreme Court of Missouri (United States).
  17. ↑ Johnson v. Steele [2020], United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri (United States)
  18. ↑ "August execution date for man who killed St. Louis-area girl". Associated Press . April 20, 2023.
  19. ↑ "August execution date for man who killed St. Louis-area girl". The Independent . April 21, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Missouri Supreme Court declines to halt August execution of man convicted of killing child". Associated Press . June 8, 2023.
  21. ↑ STATE EX REL JOHNSON v. VANDERGRIFF [2023], Supreme Court of Missouri (United States).
  22. ↑ "Missouri Supreme Court declines to halt August execution of man convicted of killing child". The Independent . June 9, 2023.
  23. ↑ JOHNSON v. VANDERGRIFF [2023], United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri (United States).
  24. ↑ "Federal judge strikes down request to halt execution of Missouri man in August". The Kansas City Star . July 17, 2023.
  25. ↑ "Federal appeals court halts planned execution in Missouri". The Independent . July 26, 2023.
  26. ↑ "Appellate court rules that Missouri man with schizophrenia can be executed after all". Associated Press . July 29, 2023.
  27. ↑ "Appellate court rules that Missouri man with schizophrenia can be executed after all". The Independent . July 29, 2023.
  28. ↑ "Missouri executes Johnny Johnson, convicted of murdering a 6-year-old girl, despite his claim he was mentally ill". CNN . August 2, 2023.
  29. ↑ "Parson denies Johnny Johnson's clemency request; attorneys ask US Supreme Court to halt execution". St. Louis Post-Dispatch . July 31, 2023.
  30. ↑ "Killer of 6-year-old Missouri girl to be executed. Victim's father wants his life spared". The Kansas City Star . July 14, 2023.
  31. ↑ "Missouri governor rejects mercy plea from man set to be executed for killing 6-year-old girl". Associated Press . July 31, 2023.
  32. ↑ "Missouri set to execute Johnny Johnson Tuesday, Gov. Mike Parson says after stay overturned". The Kansas City Star . July 31, 2023.
  33. ↑ "Missouri man executed for 2002 abduction, killing of 6-year-old girl lured to abandoned factory". Associated Press . August 1, 2023.
  34. ↑ "Johnny Johnson execution: Man who claimed he was a vampire put to death for murdering girl". The Mirror. August 1, 2023.
  35. ↑ "Missouri man executed for luring and killing 6-year-old girl at an abandoned factory". NBC New York. August 1, 2023.
  36. ↑ "Johnny Johnson execution: Man who abducted and killed 6-year-old Missouri girl Casey Williamson given lethal injection". The New Zealand Herald . August 1, 2023.
  37. ↑ "Removal begins of factory where girl's body was found". Southeast Missourian . August 22, 2002.
  38. ↑ "Missouri man facing scheduled execution Tuesday for beating death of 6-year-old girl in 2002". KRCG. August 2, 2023.
  39. ↑ "Friends remember Casey Williamson through safety fair". St. Louis Post-Dispatch . May 9, 2011.
  40. ↑ "The Worst Crime". Amazon Prime Video . Retrieved October 19, 2024.
  41. ↑ "Johnny Johnson killed their girl. They await his Missouri execution, after deep family scars". St. Louis Post-Dispatch . July 31, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.