JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A federal appeals court granted a stay of execution for Johnny Johnson, who was scheduled to be executed next Tuesday for the 2002 murder of a 6-year-old St. Louis County girl.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued its one-page 2-1 order Tuesday night.
Johnson, 45, was convicted for the murder of Casey Williamson. Johnson was staying with friends in Valley Park, Missouri, in July 2002, when Casey went missing. Dozens of volunteers joined police in the search.
The girl’s body was found in a pit less than a mile from her home, buried beneath rocks and debris. Johnson confessed that he used bricks and rocks to beat Casey after she fought back when he tried to sexually assault her.
The advocacy group Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty said Johnson should be spared due to severe mental illness that he has struggled with all his life.
The advocacy group traveled to Jefferson City Tuesday to deliver petitions to Gov. Mike Parson, asking him to commute Johnson's sentence to life without the possibility of parole.
"We cannot stand idly by while a system that fails to adequately address mental illness executes a person who does not rationally understand the reason for his sentence and is unfit to be executed," a statement from the group said.
Johnson's lawyers used a similar argument in an unsuccessful appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court last month. They said in the appeal that he is incompetent to be executed because his schizophrenia prevents him from understanding the link between his crime and the punishment. The appeal said Johnson has delusions about the devil using his death to bring about the end of the world.
The Supreme Court sided with the Missouri Attorney General's Office, which challenged the credibility of the psychiatric evaluation and said medical records indicate that Johnson is able to manage his mental illness through medication. The court ruled 6-1 to uphold the execution.
Johnson's attorneys have until Sept. 5 to file an opening brief, which would help convince the Missouri Supreme Court that it made a mistake in deciding their client's fate.
The Missouri Attorney General's Office said it will be asking the Eighth Circuit to vacate the stay.
Missouri has executed three people so far this year: Amber McLaughlin in January, Raheem Taylor in February and Michael Tisius on June 6.
