Johnny A. Johnson was sentenced to death after being found guilty of sexually assaulting and killing 6-year-old Cassandra “Casey” Williamson on July 26, 2002
The Missouri Supreme Court has set an execution date for a Missouri man convicted in the death of a 6-year-old girl more than two decades ago, according to multiple news reports.
Johnny A. Johnson, 45, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Aug. 1 at the Bonne Terre state prison, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, KFVS-TV and FOX4 KC/WDAF-TV.
Johnson was found guilty of first-degree murder, armed criminal action, kidnapping and attempted forcible rape in the connection with the death of 6-year-old Cassandra “Casey” Williamson in St. Louis County in 2002, court records show. A judge handed down his death sentence three years later, KTVI reports.
In July 2002, Johnson was staying at a friend’s house in Valley Park, where Williamson and her father were also sleeping over, when the girl went missing, records show. Johnson, a drifter and ex-convict, was 24 when the murder took place, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
Authorities said the morning of July 26 Johnson lured the girl out of the home and down the street, where he led her through an abandoned glass factory, tunnels and a sunken pit, according to court records. When Johnson tried to sexually assault the girl, he killed her by striking her several times with bricks and rocks, leaving her with multiple skull fractures.
“He buried Casey with rocks, leaves and debris from the pit,” the records state. “He then went to the nearby Meramec River to wash Casey’s blood and other evidence from his body.”
After the girl’s parents reported her missing, a search involving several law enforcement agencies was launched, FOX4 KC reports. The girl’s body was later found less than a mile from her home.
Johnson, who was taken into custody during the search, confessed to the crimes, KFVS reports.
Williamson was remembered in her obituary as “beautiful six year old little angel.” Her funeral was streamed live on television stations across St. Louis, Mo.
