Precious Doe has a name

Kansas City Star ^ | 5-6-2005 | none listed

[Mercat]

Posted on Fri, May. 06, 2005

FRED BLOCHER/The Kansas City Star Flowers and a toy were brought Thursday (above) to the Precious Doe memorial by Deborah Harris and her great-nephew Jacque Jones, 2. » Photo slideshow.

R E L A T E D L I N K S • Tears for girl bind KC, Oklahoma • Steve Penn | Through the years, KC refused to abandon this child • As city learns name of small victim, residents also grasp her significance • Questions and answers • Discussion board | Share your thoughts • Timeline of the Precious Doe case

Two charged with murder

Precious Doe case details emerge

By JOHN SHULTZ, CHRISTINE VENDEL and MATT CAMPBELL

The Kansas City Star

‘We have lost Erica, and yet it is a day of closure.'

Deep into an interrogation with investigators Wednesday, Michelle M. Johnson — Precious Doe's mother — flipped over a photo of her slain daughter, police said, and shakily scribbled something on the back.

It was an apology.

On Thursday, prosecutors charged her and her husband, Harrell Johnson, with murder in the 2001 death of 3-year-old Erica Michelle Marie Green. As Precious Doe, the girl haunted Kansas City with a mystery that lived longer than she had.

“(It's) a bittersweet day,” Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes said at a Police Headquarters news conference to announce the charges. “We have lost Erica, and yet it is a day of closure.”

Police were led to the Muskogee, Okla., couple through a tip from a determined family member.

[Mercat]

The story of Precious Doe has been alive in KCMO for a long time. Money was raised to bury her, she was given a face by forensics and now she has a name and the murderers are in custody. Today is my daughter's birthday. She's 24 years old. 22 years ago she went into protective custody because her step father was abusing her. He and my daughter's birthmother moved from Texas to Kansas to stay with his sister. As soon as she saw this little one, she called the police. Otherwise, I think our daughter could easily have become a Precious Doe.