Erica
Michelle Marie
Green
May 15, 1997 -
April 28, 2001
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Born May 15, 1997,
Erica Michelle Marie Green was brought into this world within the
confines
of a prison in Oklahoma. Born to two parents Larry and Michelle green,
with drug problems Erica was from her mother and given to a woman named
Betty Brown. Erica rarely saw her real father and eventually would be
with
her mother when she got out of prison.
Three
years later, on April
28, 2001 when the decapitated body of a child was found, no one would
know
who the child was for four years. Attempts to discover who the child
was
were not successful, though police were able to rule out the
possibility
the body was that of a missing 2 year old named Teekah Lewis, from
Tacoma,
Washington.
A white
cross was placed near
the entrance of the wooded area where the child's body was found. Six
feet
into the woods was the body of the, then unknown, child.
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On August 31,
2001 when a computer
generated sketch didn't bring any identification even with the case
being
featured on "America's Most Wanted" three times, a bust was created
from
the child's skull by artist Frank Bender from Philadelphia.
.
 ......
.
Betty Brown had
raised Erica
since her birth until her mother and her stepfather Harrell Johnson
took
her to Kansas City, Missouri in April of 2001. The three moved in with
Harrell's cousin, Lawanda Driskell who said that Erica was homesick for
Betty Brown and cried a lot.
.
 ......
"I may be
wrong, but,
I feel that baby was crying wanting
to come home
and they
probably couldn't stop her from crying."
Betty Brown
Lawanda would
say later that
Erica had been beaten by her stepfather, quite often:
"We could
hear her screaming
in the back bedroom."
She said
that Harrell
would "beat the child for crying, for
peeing on
herself, if
she wouldn't eat, whatever"
Lawanda also
said that at one
point she heard Harrell tell Michelle
"You
better go take care
of your
daughter, or
I'm going
to do something bad."
If this is
true, why didn't
Lawanda call the police or an agency designed to help abused children?
Another story of people failing to protect a child and another story of
a mother allowing her new boyfriend/husband to abuse her child to
death.
Just days after arriving in Kansas City, Erica Michelle Marie Green
would
be dead even though it could have been prevented if someone had cared
enough
to help her. A week later there was a loud bang from Erica's bedroom
and
for two days after that, Harrell kept the bedroom door closed and said
that Erica was sick. Lawanda is sure this is when Erica was killed.
After the body
of the then
unknown child was found, her head was found near the same area, wrapped
in a trash bag. Police concluded that the head had been cut off with
hedge
clippers. Michelle Green helped hand out fliers about the girl and
cried
at a candle light vigil that was held for her.
.
.
Shortly after
that, Michelle
left Kansas city and told Lawanda she was returning Erica to Betty
Brown.
Several weeks later, Lawanda told Michelle that she thought the unknown
child looked like Erica, to which Michelle replied"
"Oh, no.
I have Erica
here with me"
Lawanda said
that Michelle
had always been able to come up with excuses for any situation and
people
just believed her.
On December 8,
2001, Precious
Doe was laid to rest in Memorial Park
Cemetery which is
located
not far from the area where her body was found. Below is a picture of
the
headstone she was given at that time.
.
.
.
On July 15, 2003,
the body of
this precious little Angel was exhumed and taken to Louisiana so that
it
can be sculpted in order to get a better likeness of the child during
her
life. Police then circulated images of what the child looked like.
On April 29,
2005 the police
as well as community activists received a tip from a man saying he had
not seen his granddaughter for several years called in referring to a
newspaper
ad that had been placed by Alonzo Washington who is a community
activist
and missing child advocate in Kansas, City. The man also said he knew
who
the missing child was and who had killed her. Then on May 5, 2005 the
police
announce that they knew who Precious doe is:
In May 2005, a
man who said
he had not seen his granddaughter for several years responded to a
newspaper
ad placed by Alonzo Washington, a Kansas City-based community activist
and missing-child advocate.
.
.
"The little
girl we
have known for four years as Precious Doe, has a name. Erica Michelle
Marie
Green.
Chief James
Corwin -
Kansas City Police Department
Erica's head
was discovered
by a retired post office work, Army Sergeant name Billy Stegall:
"This is
a day I have
been looking for. I just asked the Lord
to say who
she is so
she could be at peace, because she
wasn't at
peace and
I wasn't at peace."
Billy has gone
back to that
site many times in order to pray.
Alonzo Washington, a community
activist, had never
given up the search for who the unknown child was. When asked: "Mr.
Washington
why was it so important for you to relentlessly pursue answers in this
case over the last four years, to not let the story of this little girl
fade away," he said this:
"Well, it was important because
in this city
I wanted to make this case different. You know, we're
used to homicides and that's a sad
commentary
in itself. However, when you find a
child decapitated and you throw
away the head
and the boy like it's garbage...I wanted to create memorials, wanted to
do vigils to make, uh, everybody in this city always remember that
something this horrible has
happened and to
always search for justice for this child."
Alonzo Washington - Community
Activist
Michelle Johnson was arrested in
Oklahoma and charged
with murder and endangering the life of a child. Harrell Johnson was
also
being held in Oklahoma, though no charges were immediately brought
against
him. At that time, police say that Michelle told them Harrell had
killed
Erica with a kick to her head and then had decapitated her with the
hedge
clippers.
.
.
"For the last four years every
time I walked,
uh, drive by
that area, I just continue to
think Lord when
are you
gonna provide some closure to us?
And today
we
have that closure"
Terry Riley - Kansas City
Councilman
In October of 2008, Michelle Johnson,
who was 29
years old, testified in court against Harrell Johnson. Michelle said
that
she had know that her daughter needed medical attention and that fear
of
going to jail caused her to allow her to just lay there and die.
Michelle
said that she had watched as Harell kicked Erica in the head and she
fell
to the floor. Harrell was high on drugs at the time:
"He just picked up his feet and
kicked her
on the side of the
face. I said, 'What the
(expletive) did you
do?' It shook
him out of his high"
Michelle then picked Erica up and put
her into a
cold bath in hopes of reviving her. The cold bath didn't work so she
placed
Erica on the bedroom floor. At times during her testimony, Michelle
held
back her tears as she talked about the last hours of the life of her
daughter
who she called "Little E".
Michelle said it seemed like Erica
laid on the floor
for days, though Harrell said it was only a few hours. Both of them
knew
that if they did not get her to a hospital, she would die, that they
knew
Erica was in need of help and they were afraid to get it for her:
"We wasn't going to get it.
Because we both
was on the
run from police"
Erica continued to lay on the floor
without any help:
"I was on the floor with her. I
was singing
her favorite
song to her, which was a Barney
song. "I kissed
her. I
was asking God to let my daughter
live and
to take me"
After Erica died, they waited until
it was dark to
dispose of her body. They didn't want any of the neighbors to see what
they were doing. Michelle went with Harrell as he carried Erica's body
along with a bag and the hedge clippers into the woods. Michelle could
not explain the reason why they took her clothes off:
"He handed her clothes to me
and I left"
Michelle says that she was not there
when Harrell
decapitated Erica. According to her, Harrell told her later that he had
decapitated her and put her head into the trash at a church. Later,
they
returned and moved Erica's head from the trash to the woods fearing
that
members of the church would find it.
The defense rested after not calling
any witnesses
and though they did admit that Harrell kicked Erica in the head, they
said
that he should not be convicted of first degree murder since it was not
something he did with premeditation.
Harrell Johnson was convicted of
first degree murder
and endangering the welfare of a child as well as abusing a child.
Judge
John Torrence gave him a sentence of four years and 25 years for the
two
charges of endangering a child and abusing a child. On October 8, 2008
Harrell Johnson was again in court and found guilty of first degree
murder.
Harrell was sentenced to life in prison with the first sentence will
run
consecutively with the life sentence. He will never be eligible for
parole.
Michelle Johnson plead guilty to
second degree murder
charges after she testified against Harrell. Michelle claimed he was
high
on drugs when he kicked Erica in the head and threw her on the floor
because
she didn't want to go bed when he wanted her to. Michelle also plead
guilty
to a charge of child endangerment, abandoning a corpse and tampering
with
evidence since she failed to help her daughter as she lay dying on the
floor. For her plea and for testifying against Harrell, prosecutors
were
going to make a recommendation of her serving only 25 years. Michelle's
trial was set to start on January 22, 2009.
.
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"You know what, I think it brings
some sense
of closure and some sense of relief to the
community, to know that, uh, we've
charged
the individuals in this case, we've identified her.
The last four years has been very
difficult
for this community and this is a real testament
to the law enforcement community
working together
to make sure that we
have these two people in custody
and that
we'll be seeing them in court here, fairly soon"
Mike Sanders - Jackman County
Prosecution.
Erica was buried a second time in
2005, In Kansas
City, Missouri in Memorial Park Cemetery which is in Jackson County and
below is her new headstone.
Update:
On October 22, 2008, Michelle Green
was sentenced
to 25 years in prison. Michelle was sentenced to exactly what the
Jacson
County Prosecutors had recommended. In courth, Michelle had the nerve
to
say she was sorry. Marcie Williams from the "Precious Doe" committee
had
this to say:
"You married the man that
murdered your child.
How
could anybody have sympathy for
you"
"She married him. She had more
kids by him.
I think
what she said today, it's probably
some guilt,
but I
don't think there's remorse there,
not by
a long shot
do I believe she's remorseful at
all"
As well as saying she was sorry,
Michelle thanked
the community for adopting Erica, for giving her a name and for burying
her. Judge John R. O'Malley said there is no closer departure from
humanity
than when a mother murders her own child.
Harrell said in court:
"Never once have I harmed a
hair on her head
or
did anything to hurt her. God
knows my little
angel,
Erica, knows the truth. And I
ain't gonna
stop fighting
until I prove my innocence and the
truth is
brought to
the light"
Does this man even remember ADMITTING
to kicking
her in the head? It seems like he doesn't consider that harming her.
From a prison in Vandalia, Michelle
spoke about the
death of Erica:
"When I close my eyes, I see
it"
"I heard my daughter take her
last breath.
And I just
told her that, 'I'm going to take
care of
her sisters
and brothers and do what I can do
for them,
what I
couldn't do for her"
"I ask myself everyday, 'Why,
why didn't I
help her.'
That's a mother's instinct to
protect her
child. Why
didn't I do what I was supposed to
do for
my child?
No drugs, no man, nothing should
be more important
than your child"
Michelle STILL insists she
was not there when
Harrell cut off Erica's head, though the Harrell and papers say she was:
"I have so many questions, and
only he can
answer. Like 'Why, just why?' Why did he feel
like cutting her head off? I mean,
in the
newspapers they say that I was down there when
this happened. I wasn't down
there"
She says she did go back the next day
and move Erica's
head to the woods, with Harrell:
"That's why they think I'm so,
a monster. Yeah,
I did go back. Yeah I did. I'll admit that.
"The next day was garbage day.
They would
have picked it up. It would have
been in the Dumpster, in the sea.
They would
have never, never known who she
was, never, so yeah, I went back."
"I just wanted my daughter to
be known. I wanted
my daughter to have peace. I love my baby.
I'll never be the same. I just
want her to
have peace. I want her to go on. That's why I'm here,
because I'm admitting that I was
wrong. I'm
admitting that I didn't protect her like a mother should.
It's not about me. It's not about
Harrell.
It's about my daughter. It's about closure for her"
If this were true, Michelle would NOT
have
stood across the street smiling and waving at cameras as a search for
the
head of Erica was taking place in the woods. When asked if she and
Harrell
were still married, she answered:
"What does it matter if I'm not
or am? Will
I ever see him again, probably not"
Michelle no longer blames Harrell for
the death of
Erica:
"All these years, I caught
myself putting the
blame on him, but I can't. I truly can't, because
I just should have, I should have
died for
my daughter. If it came to choose, I should
have died for her. I let her down.
Everyday,
when I'm in my cell, I think about I wish I
could change back time. I wish
that she was
here"
Once again, Michelle said she was
greatful to the
community for what they gave to Erica, the things SHE had not given
her.
The community gave Erica her name back, they gave her love and they
gave
her a proper burial:
"I wanted everybody to know,
she's not no Doe.
Doe is somebody you don't know. She has,
she has a name"
Jackson County Prosecutor Jim
Kanatzar said about
Michelle:
"I know that she had a
difficult background.
I know she didn't have the advantages that a lot
of us enjoy in life, but there are
people
that come into this courtroom everyday with the same background, some
more
difficult circumstances and they never resort to the type of
criminal
activity that she resorted to, so
it's not
an excuse, and no, I don't feel sorry for her"
Read
A News Story About The Detectives On The Case
For information about preventing child
abuse in
the state of Missouri, click the links below. If they can't help you,
ask
for someone who can. NEVER give up looking for help for an
abused
child!
Call
this number
to report child abuse ANY WHERE in the United States!
1-800-4-A-Child
1-800-422-4453
   
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