A man who was scheduled to be executed in August for the murder of a 6-year-old girl has been spared by the Missouri Supreme Court.
Murder of a 6-year-old girl
A 45-year-old man was convicted on charges of first-degree murder of killing a 6-year-old girl in Suburban St. Louise. His schedule for execution will be on August 1, however, the court intervened in this appeal.
In a published article in The Independent, Johnson was incompetent to face his punishment — execution, for he has schizophrenia that prevented him from determining his crime and punishment, said his lawyer. It is stated that he had delusions of the devil inside him that he will bring destruction to end the world using his death.
Medical records indicated that Johnson was able to handle his mental illness through medication.
The victim, Casey, 6 went missing on July 2002. There had been volunteers to find Casey. She was found dead near her home buried underneath the rocks. Earlier that time, John was hanging out with his friends in Valley Park, Missouri. He also confessed and confirmed that he killed Casey after resisting when he tried to sexually assault her. He said that he killed the victim by using bricks and rocks to beat her.