Missouri man who abducted and killed a 6-year-old gets put to death

As previously reported, the Missouri man who abducted a six-year-old girl in 2002, lured her to an abandoned factory where he tried to sexually assault her but beat her and bashed her to death with a brick and heavy rock when she fought back, received what he had coming for 21 years.

Johnny Johnson, 45, was put to death Tuesday evening, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request to block the execution over claims he was mentally incompetent.

Of course, he wasn't so mentally incompetent when he tried to hide little Casey Williamson's body at the time of the murder.

Johnson received a lethal injection of pentobarbital in a state prison in Bonne Terre and was pronounced dead at 6:33 p.m. CDT, according to prison authorities. He was convicted of killing the child in 2002 in the St. Louis suburb of Valley Park.

Johnson, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, expressed remorse in a brief handwritten statement released by the Department of Corrections hours before being executed.

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MO governor rejects mercy plea for scumcrumpet who killed 6-year-old girl

Missouri Governor Mike Parson (R, of course) will allow the state to go forward with a planned execution of a man who killed a 6-year-old girl on July 26, 2002. The man, Johnny Johnson, 45, is to receive a lethal injection tonight, Tuesday, but his lawyers are still trying to convince the governor that he his mentally incompetent.

Angie Wideman the mother of four told Johnson to help himself to some food from the barbecue--he was a family friend she had known since childhood and evidently did not think he was mentally incompetent as his lawyers claim. She had never seen him act violent and since he needed a place to sleep that night, she offered him her couch.

The following morning, Johnson lured little Casey Williamson out of the house leading her to a glass factory where he tried to sexually assault her. She fought back so he killed her using bricks and a heavy rock.

Johnson’s attorneys have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the execution. They also asked that Parson grant clemency — reducing Johnson’s sentence to life in prison — while asserting that Johnson’s mental illness has left him incapable of understanding the connection between his actions and his execution.

That's okay--he doesn't need to know now why he's getting a lethal injection.

Parson denied the clemency request. He noted that a variety of courts — including the original trial judge and 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals just days ago — have thus far rejected Johnson’s incompetency claims.

“Johnny Johnson’s crime is one of the most horrific murders that has come across my desk,” Parson said in a statement. “Casey was an innocent young girl who bravely fought Johnson until he took her life.”

Parson, a former sheriff, said he received “countless letters in the last few weeks seeking justice for Casey” and hopes that carrying out the execution “may provide some closure for Casey’s loved ones.”

It will never provide closure for the family because it never does, but it helps them cope knowing justice has been done and that bastard will be gone.

In a clemency petition, Johnson’s attorneys said that Casey’s father, Ernie Williamson, opposes the death penalty, but thankfully it isn't up to him whether justice is done or Johnson is allowed to stay around for decades to come. Other family members urged the governor to allow the execution to go forward.

Johnson wasn't so out of it that he didn't know to cover up his crime after he killed Casey. This was pointed out by Della Steele, Casey's great aunt. She said that Johnson could have turned back at any point but instead chose to abduct and kill the child, then literally cover up his crime.

“Please stand strong beside Casey,” Steele wrote. “Remove this threat from our presence. Send the message that it is not okay to terrorize and murder a child.”

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