Missouri set to execute Johnny Johnson Tuesday, Gov. Mike Parson says after stay overturned

The state of Missouri will move forward with the execution of Johnny Johnson on Tuesday, Gov. Mike Parson said Monday, though Johnson’s attorneys are appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court on competency grounds.

“Johnny Johnson’s crime is one of the most horrific murders that has come across my desk,” Parson, a Republican, said in a news release Monday after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit overruled a stay granted by a three-judge panel of its own court.

Johnson, 45, is set to die by lethal injection at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre. He was convicted of murdering Casey Williamson, 6, in 2002 in St. Louis County after attempting to rape her.

“Casey was an innocent young girl who bravely fought Johnson until he took her life,” Parson said on Monday. “My office has received countless letters in the last few weeks seeking justice for Casey. Although this won’t bring her back, we hope that carrying out Johnson’s sentence according to the Court’s order may provide some closure for Casey’s loved ones.”

Johnson’s lawyers have tried to get his execution halted, saying he “was in the grips of active psychosis” when he killed Casey and is not competent to be executed. His legal team has said the state should not execute him for several reasons, including a brain disorder that caused developmental delays as a child and persistent mental health problems. He also suffered several traumatic experiences including physical and sexual abuse as a child, they said.

Diagnosed with schizophrenia at 16, Johnson has continued to hear voices and “believes that the reason for his impending execution is that Satan is using the State of Missouri to bring about the end of the world,” his attorneys wrote in his clemency application.

Democratic Reps. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City and Cori Bush of St. Louis are among those who have called on Parson to stop the execution.

“There is extensive evidence that Mr. Johnson does not have a rational understanding of the reasons for his execution,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter.

In a letter on behalf of Pope Francis, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Vatican’s ambassador to the U.S., also asked Parson to grant Johnson clemency on the basis of “our own shared humanity.”

“Our challenge is to honor this sacred gift of life from the Creator, even when it is difficult to do so, and even if Mr. Johnson has not honored the life of Casey,” Pierre wrote in the letter, which was posted online by the group Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty. “Mr. Johnson has indeed forfeited his liberty by his criminal conduct, but he has not forfeited his humanity.”

Williamson’s mother, Angie Wideman, recently told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch she had been “looking forward to putting this part of it to rest.”

Her father, Ernie Williamson, has said he does not support capital punishment. A juror also said she would be OK with clemency, according to Johnson’s clemency application.

Johnson was released from a state psychiatric center in early 2002. On July 25 of that year, he went to a friend’s house where he had been staying for a few days. Williamson, who was also staying at the home, was reported missing the next day.

Johnson admitted to bludgeoning her head with a brick and leaving her body in a pit at a nearby glass factory, according to court documents. He was convicted in 2005 of first-degree murder, kidnapping and attempted rape.

The execution would mark the fourth this year in Missouri.

The Star’s Katie Moore contributed reporting.