The Supreme Court rejected a request to block the execution of Johnny Johnson, who abducted and beat a 6-year-old Missouri girl to death, He was executed Tuesday evening, the Associated Press reports. The request to block the execution revolved around arguments that Johnson was mentally incompetent. Johnson, 45, received a lethal injection dose of pentobarbital at a state prison in Bonne Terre. He was convicted of the July 2002 killing of Casey Williamson in the St. Louis suburb of Valley Park. Johnson, who had schizophrenia, expressed remorse in a brief handwritten statement before being executed. The U.S. Supreme Court, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor and two other justices dissenting, rejected a late request to stay the execution. Johnson’s attorneys have said the inmate has had delusions about the devil using his death to bring about the end of the world.
“The Court today paves the way to execute a man with documented mental illness before any court meaningfully investigates his competency to be executed,” Sotomayor and the other dissenting justices wrote. Casey’s great aunt, Della Steele, wrote an emotional plea to the governor urging the execution be carried out to “send the message that it is not okay to terrorize and murder a child.” Steele said grief from Casey’s death led to destructive effects among other family members. The execution was the 16th in the U.S. this year, including three previously in Missouri, five in Texas, four in Florida, two in Oklahoma and one in Alabama. “It’s been a difficult day, and a difficult 21 years,” Steele said. “We will continue to honor our sweet Casey’s memory by doing our best to make a difference in the lives of other children.”
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