Missouri
Missouri man facing scheduled execution for beating death of 6-year-old girl in 2002
JEFFESON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A man who abducted a 6-year-old girl and beat her to death at an abandoned glass factory was scheduled to be executed Tuesday in Missouri, as his attorneys pressed claims that he is mentally incompetent.
Johnny Johnson, 45, was convicted in the July, 26, 2002, killing of Casey Williamson, whose disappearance set off a frantic search in her hometown of Valley Park, a small suburb of St. Louis.
Casey’s mother had been best friends in childhood with Johnson’s older sister and had even helped babysit him. After Johnson attended a barbecue the night before the killing, Casey’s family let him sleep on a couch in the home where they also were sleeping.
In the morning, Johnson lured the girl to the abandoned 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. According to court documents, he killed her with a brick and a large rock, then washed off in the nearby Meramec River. Johnson confessed that same day to the crimes, according to authorities.
After a search involving first responders and volunteers, Casey’s body was found in a pit less than a mile (kilometer) from her home, buried beneath rocks and debris.
At Johnson’s trial, defense lawyers presented testimony showing that their client — an ex-convict who had been released from a state psychiatric facility six months earlier — had stopped taking his schizophrenia medication and was acting strangely in the days before the slaying.
In recent appeals, Johnson’s attorneys have said he has delusions about the devil using his death to bring about the end of the world. They also noted he had been placed on suicide watch in prison a couple years ago after claiming to be a vampire.
In June, the Missouri Supreme Court denied an appeal seeking to block the execution on arguments that Johnson’s schizophrenia prevented him from understanding the link between his crime and the punishment. The Missouri Attorney General’s Office successfully challenged the credibility of the psychiatric evaluation and said medical records indicate that Johnson is able to manage his mental illness through medication.
A three-judge federal appeals court panel last week temporary halted the planned execution, but the full 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated it. Johnson’s attorneys then filed multiple appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court centered around his competency to be executed.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Monday denied a clemency request to reduce Johnson’s sentence to life in prison.
“Johnny Johnson’s crime is one of the most horrific murders that has come across my desk,” Parson, a former sheriff, said in a statement.
The clemency petition by Johnson’s attorneys said Casey’s father, Ernie Williamson, opposed the death penalty.
But Casey’s great aunt, Della Steele, wrote an emotional plea to Parson urging him to proceed with the execution to “send the message that it is not okay to terrorize and murder a child.” Steele said in the message that the grief from Casey’s death led to destructive effects among other family members.
“He did something horrible. He took a life away from a completely innocent child, and there have to be consequences for that,” Steele told The Associated Press.
Steele has led a variety of community efforts to honor Casey. Through years of fundraising, Casey’s family provided $500 scholarships or savings bonds to all 65 students of the senior class of Valley Park High School in 2014, the year Casey would have graduated.
The family also has organized community safety fairs in Casey’s memory, including a July 22 event that drew a couple hundred people. They gave away dozens of child identification kits along with safety tips involving fire, water and bicycles, among other items.
“A lot of kids from Casey’s class were there with their children. It was nice to see, but it definitely makes you think,” Steele said. “They’re pushing their strollers with their couple of kids and you think, `That’s where she should be.’”
The scheduled execution would be the 16th in the U.S. this year. In addition to three previous executions in Missouri, five have been conducted in Texas, four in Florida, two in Oklahoma and one in Alabama. There were 18 executions in six U.S. states last year.
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Associated Press writer Jim Salter contributed to this report from O’Fallon, Missouri.
The Missouri Tigers and the Pacific Tigers had more things in common last year than just their monikers, as both teams finished winless in conference play. With those woes looming on their heads in this season, both teams have something to prove coming into this one and would benefit greatly from a victory at this point in the season. Missouri picked up that benefit tonight in a 91-56 victory. It was their fourth win in a row after their loss to Memphis to open the season.
Pacific came into the game with a reputation of keeping games interesting this season, with their previous bout against No. 19 Arkansas having as close as a two-point deficit with 12 minutes left. Their reputation being upheld seemed to be imminent as Pacific raced out to a 7-2 lead to start the game behind good play from Elias Ralph. The 6-foot-7 senior who played the majority of his career playing Canadian college basketball for the University of Victoria, just transferred to Pacific this year. Ralph finished the game with 19 points, leading his team.
After the hot start, head coach Dennis Gates’ group woke up as they dominated the half with multiple large scoring runs including a 14-2 run to end the half. Caleb Grill continued his good run of form shooting seven-of-nine in the first frame with five shots from beyond the arc for 19 points. Grill would finish the game with 25 points, his second-best mark of the season.
A quintessential pillar of Missouri’s ability to straighten their course after the early deficit was their clean basketball and forcing of dirty basketball on Pacific. The black-and-orange Tigers had seven turnovers while Gates’ group had none in the entire half. The black-and-gold Tigers picked up 12 points off those turnovers, marking a huge advantage in the game.
While Ralph was beating them, Missouri didn’t let anyone else on Pacific achieve the same feat. The rest of the Pacific team shot 41% in the first half, a contrast to Ralph’s 60%. A key to this game that I highlighted was dominating the offensive glass, and Missouri did so picking up seven offensive boards to Pacific’s three.
With all the joy that was the first half for Missouri, a key aspect was continuing to build a habit of having good second halves. The Tigers continued their trend of forcing turnovers as they forced three more before giving up their first of the game five minutes into the second half.
Grill’s value to the team in putting points off the bench was emphasized even more when at the final-12 minute mark, Grill had accumulated just six less points than the entire starting lineup.
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Defensively, absent from the first half thanks to the slow start, Missouri did a great job suffocating Pacific and preventing them from getting favorable looks. This aggressive style of defense caused Pacific to only have 13 points with five minutes left in the second half. Pacific went under a seven-minute scoring drought
As the Tigers were clamping down on Pacific on one end, they were still putting the pain in on offense. A 10-0 run towards the end of the game solidified the win, if it wasn’t already. The offensive performance for the second game in a row was a team effort aside from Grill as six players had at least seven points.
After outscoring Pacific 37-25 in the second half, Gates’ group picked up a comfortable win as they utilized efficient shooting, turnovers, and free throws to pick up the 35 point win.
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Overall, Missouri shot 49.2% from the field while Pacific 37.3%. The real difference maker was Missouri shooting 46.7% from three-point land Pacific’s 20.7%. Missouri outrebounded Pacific 38-32, and Pacific out-turnovered Missouri 14-6, with Missouri having the advantage 24-6 in points off of turnovers.
The Tigers next bout is against Arkansas Pine-Bluff on Sunday Nov. 24 at 4 PM CST. The game continues the Tigers’ non-conference home slate.
Missouri
Missouri Health Department releases results of lettuce taken as part of investigation into E. coli outbreak
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) – The Missouri State Health Department has provided the results of lettuce taken as part of an E. coli investigation that impacted local high school students.
The St. Louis County Health Department has said that 106 E. coli cases have been found to be connected to events hosted or catered through Andre’s Banquet and Catering. More than half of the cases were connected with Rockwood Summit High School.
On Friday, the Missouri State Health Department said that an unopened package of lettuce collected from Andre’s Banquet and Catering tested negative for E. coli.
The owner of Andre’s Banquet Center provided a statement following the release of the results:
“Recently, it was brought to my attention that members of our community have tested positive for E. coli. In particular, the St. Louis County Department of Public Health (”Department”) contacted me and indicated there was a concern that lettuce served at two (2) events affiliated with Andre’s Banquet Center may be the cause of the E Coli. I immediately cooperated with the Department and provided samples of the lettuce which was served at the events. The Department, in turn, provided these samples to the Missouri State Public Health Laboratory. However, prior to the Department obtaining samples of the lettuce, St. Louis County issued a Press Release wrongly suggesting that Andre’s was the source of the E. coli. Earlier today, an Environmental Public Health Specialist from the State of Missouri notified me that testing done on the samples was negative for E. coli. While I am relieved to learn of the Missouri State Public Health Laboratory’s negative test results, I will continue to cooperate with the state and local health departments as they now work to determine the source of E. coli that has caused illnesses in the region and which has resulted in individuals who did not attend any events affiliated with Andre’s contracting E Coli.”
Bill Marler of the Marler Clark law firm in Seattle has filed two lawsuits over the E. coli outbreak.
“People eat the evidence,” he said of the health department not finding any contamination in the provided product. “I mean, the fact of the matter is that the food that’s being tested now is not the food that people ate.”
He told First Alert 4 that it is not uncommon for the food to test negative in outbreak situations.
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The owner of Las Palmitas Mini Market, Navor Herrera, received a $1M check during a press conference with Powerball officials on Thursday morning. (FOX 11)
Lottery players in 45 states, Washington D.C. and two U.S. territories hope for good luck when Powerball holds its three drawings each week and, according to a GambleSpot report, some states have had more wins than others over the years.
People in Indiana may be pleased to learn their state placed No. 1 thanks to the 1,153 Powerball wins from Match 5, 79 from Match 5 + Power Play and 39 for the jackpot over the span of just over 30 years, the gambling site said.
The other nine most-winning states for the popular lottery game were spread across the country.
The timeframe that GambleSpot used to determine the order of its list for those types of wins ran from April of 1992 to 2024. It included a total of 43 states.
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The ten states at the top of the ranking notched a combined $40.43 billion worth of prizes adjusted for inflation, it said.
GambleSpot said the “luckiest” states when it came to Powerball were:
1. Indiana
WHITING, IN – OCTOBER 17: Maryanne Rearick rings up Powerball lottery tickets for customers at a cigarette store October 17, 2005 in Whiting, Indiana. The numbers for the multi-state Powerball lottery, which is currently at the highest amount ever $3 (Scott Olson/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The Hoosier State owes its No. 1 spot to 1,271 wins, it said. Those amounted to nearly $6.46 billion.
2. Missouri
Between April 1992 and April 2024, Missouri clocked in at 1,046 wins, 31 of which landed someone the grand prize, according to GambleSpot.
3. Pennsylvania
WASHINGTON CROSSING, PA – MAY 10: Powerball tickets await players at Cumberland Farms convenience store May 10, 2004 in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania. The winner of the May 8th $213 million dollar Powerball jackpot has yet to come forward. For se (William Thomas Cain/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The state of Pennsylvania had 918 wins. Pennsylvania is home to about 13 million people, per the U.S. Census Bureau.
4. Minnesota
The gambling site found the North Star State to have garnered 851 wins in about 32 years. Minnesota winnings totalled $3.75 billion during that span. The state lets those who land prizes upwards of $10,000 keep their identities private.
5. Kentucky
“Seattle, WA, USA – June 15, 2012: A pile of Washington state Powerball lottery tickets. Tickets cost $2 and are sold in several states throughout the United States for a cash prize. Drawings are held every Wednesday and Sunday night.” (iStock / iStock)
Kentucky notched 825 wins, earning it fifth place, and $3.16 billion in prizes, according to GambleSpot. The biggest Powerball jackpot ever scored in Kentucky was $128.6 million in 2009, the Kentucky Lottery website said.
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6. Wisconsin
The number of wins that GambleSpot tracked in the Badger State during its research totalled 797. That equated to $4.35 billion, it said.
7. Arizona
An Arizona Lottery kiosk displays lottery ticket games ahead of a PowerBall $1.5 Billon jackpot at a kiosk inside the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) in Phoenix, Arizona on November 3, 2022. (Photo by Patrick T. FALLON / AFP) (Photo by (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Meanwhile, the gambling site counted 789 wins for Arizona. The state started playing Powerball in 1994, per the Arizona Lottery website.
8. Louisiana
Louisiana placed eighth, having 700 wins and nearly $2.42 billion in winnings. The state’s biggest Powerball jackpot, won in 2017, was $191.1 million, according to the Louisiana Lottery.
9. Florida
MIAMI, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 04: Forms to pick numbers for Powerball are on display in a store on October 04, 2023 in Miami, Florida. Wednesday’s Powerball drawing will be an approximately $1.2 billion jackpot. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (Joe Raedle/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The Sunshine state drew 567 wins and $4.90 billion during the timeframe it reviewed, GambleSpot’s research showed.
10. Connecticut
Powerball has been available in Connecticut since late 1995. People in Connecticut have won in 517 instances, per the gambling site.
Overall, people that play Powerball have a 1 in 24.9 chance of winning, with the jackpot carrying odds of 1 in 292.2 million, according to the lottery.
The largest prize that Powerball has ever seen, a $2.04 billion jackpot, occurred two years ago in California, Powerball’s website showed.
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Only two of the states featured in GambleSpot’s top-10 list – Florida and Wisconsin – have been home to one of Powerball’s 10 largest jackpots.
The lottery’s next drawing is slated for Saturday, when $171 million will go up for grabs.
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