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October 6, 2008

VIDEO: Precious Doe murder trial begins

A 29-year-old Muskogee man goes on trial today for first-degree murder in Kansas City, Mo., in the killing of his 3-year-old stepdaughter in 2001.

Harrell Johnson is accused of kicking the girl who became known as “Precious Doe” in the head and then letting her languish and die.

He is charged with taking her dead body to a park in Kansas City, beheading her and leaving her body in one part of the park and her head in a plastic trash bag nearby. Her body was not identified until May 2005, when Johnson’s grandfather finally convinced Kansas City Police he knew her identity and who killed her.

Johnson is alleged to have been high on drugs and angry at the time he kicked her because the child would not be quiet and go to bed.

The child’s mother, Michelle Green, has since married Johnson. She was present when her child, Erica Green, was fatally injured and later beheaded.

The mother pleaded guilty in September 2007 to second-degree murder in her daughter’s death. She also pleaded guilty to child endangerment, abandoning a corpse and tampering with evidence for not helping her daughter as she lay dying.

As part of her plea agreement, the mother agreed to testify against Harrell Johnson. In exchange for her plea, prosecutors recommended a 25-year sentence. If she had gone to trial and been convicted of second-degree murder, she could have been sentenced to life in prison.

Jackson County (Missouri) Prosecutor Jim Kanatzar will give his opening statement at 9 a.m. Monday in Division 14 of the 16th Circuit Court, said Van Buckley, media spokesman for Kanatzar.

A jury was selected Wednesday and Thursday, Buckley said.

Click to watch video report from Kansas City's NBC Action News.

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