| Updated: 10/01/2008 8:32 am |
Published: 10/01/2008 7:18 am
|
October 1- Jury selection is set to begin this morning in the “Precious Doe” case. An Oklahoma man is charged with the murder of a little girl.
You may remember the girl’s body was found seven years ago in a park near Kansas City. But she wasn’t identified until three years ago as Erica Green.
Harrell Johnson is on trial for first-degree murder. Johnson’s wife, Michelle, the little girl’s mother already pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2007. She will be testifying against Johnson.
Testimony is expected to start on Monday. Johnson is from Muskogee Oklahoma. He is accused of kicking the little girl in the head when she wouldn’t go to bed, then leaving her to die. Her body was later found decapitated and dumped in a Kansas City park.
Police later discovered her head in a trash bag nearby. The case gained national attention after her body was discovered in 2001. It wasn’t until 2005 that she
was identified as Erica Green.
Lawyers had originally decided to seek the death penalty for Harrell Johnson. But now, the Jackson County prosecutor decided against it, citing the case does not meet the necessary standards.
