Missouri man executed for 2002 abduction and killing of 6-year-old girl

By DAVID A. LIEB
Associated Press

BONNE TERRE, Mo. (AP) — A man who abducted and beat a 6-year-old girl to death in Missouri decades ago has been executed. Authorities say 45-year-old Johnny Johnson was pronounced dead Tuesday evening after a lethal injection at a Missouri state prison in Bonne Terre. He was convicted of killing Casey Williamson in July 2002. Authorities say Johnson led the girl to an abandoned factory where he tried to sexually assault her before fatally beating her. The U.S. Supreme Court, with three justices dissenting, rejected a late defense request for a stay. Johnson’s lawyers had contended he was mentally incompetent to be executed. The inmate expressed remorse in a handwritten statement released earlier in the day.