Erica Michelle Marie Green

After four years, Erica Michelle Marie Green finally has been identified.

In 2001 the little girl was found in pieces-her head in one place, her body in another-along a stretch of a road in Kansas City, MO. Authorities investigating the crime had no suspects, no motive and no information about the little girl who they named Precious Doe.

Over the next four years, amid a groundswell of candlelight prayer vigils, community activism, police tips, even a feature on "America's Most Wanted," her death remained a mystery, until recently.

A tip led police to Erica's mother, Michelle M. Johnson, 30, and her husband, Harrell L. Johnson, 25, both of Muskogee, OK.


Michelle Johnson (the mother) & Harrell Johnson
Charged May 5, 2005, with murder and endangerment of a child's welfare in the death of her daughter Erica Michelle Marie Green.

Under interrogation the couple admitted their role in Erica's death and were charged with endangering the welfare of a child and second-degree murder of the woman's daughter. Prosecutors have referred to Harrell as the girl's stepfather.

According to a probable cause statement filed in Jackson County Circuit Court: One night in April 2001, high on PCP and under the influence of alcohol, Harrell became angry when Erica, a few weeks shy of her fourth birthday, ignored orders to go to bed.

Harrell says he kicked the child in the shoulder and she then hit her head, while the mother says he kicked the girl in the head.

This much the Johnsons agree on: the girl fell unconscious and they didn't seek treatment, fearful because of outstanding warrants for their arrests.

Police say the girl lingered for a day or two, and after she died the parents carried the body down the street, then through the woods, where Harrell used hedge clippers to separate the girl's head from her body.
Her lower body was found near an intersection on April 28, 2001. Days later, her head, wrapped in a trash, was found nearby. "We have closure," police Chief James Corwin said.

Reprinted from the May 23, 2005 issue of Jet Magazine