The planned execution of a 45-year-old Missouri man with schizophrenia is back on after an appellate court reversed course Saturday.
is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Tuesday at the state prison in Bonne Terre for killing 6-year-old Casey Williamson after trying to sexually assault her in 2002.
With questions swirling about his mental competency, the execution was halted last Tuesday by a divided three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court. But after the Missouri Attorney General’s Office asked that the full court reconsider, that decision was reversed in a 7-3 ruling.Attorneys for Johnson have claimed his schizophrenia prevents him from understanding the link between his crime and the punishment.
Johnson lured the girl to an abandoned glass factory, even carrying her on his shoulders on the walk to the dilapidated site. When he tried to sexually assault her, Casey screamed and tried to break free. He killed her with bricks and rocks, then washed off in the Meramec River. Johnson confessed to the crimes.
Casey’s disappearance set off a frantic search involving first responders and volunteers. Her body was found in a pit less than a mile from her home, buried beneath rocks and debris.Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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