A Michigan mother, whose 3-year-old daughter was discovered useless in a trash bag, advised investigators that Spongebob ordered her to kill the kid or she would face demise herself, a report mentioned on Friday.
Justine Johnson, 22, allegedly stabbed younger Sutton Mosser a number of instances on Sept. 16, two days after the kid’s third birthday earlier than stuffing her physique right into a black trash bag after she was hallucinating as a result of weeks of heroin withdrawal and lack of sleep. She’s charged with felony homicide and first-degree baby abuse.
Ryan Eberline, an investigator with Baby Protecting Providers, testified throughout Friday’s preliminary listening to into the case. Eberline, who interviewed Johnson on Oct. 1, mentioned that on the day Sutton was killed, Johnson mentioned she had left her mom’s Oscoda Township home the place she was residing and handed out in a graveyard, according to MLive. She mentioned she then returned to her mom’s home and tried to kill herself earlier than she killed her daughter.
“She advised me that she didn’t bear in mind the specifics of what occurred on the time of what occurred to Sutton, that she was experiencing hallucinations as a result of heroin withdrawal and never sleeping for about two weeks,” Eberline mentioned. “She was getting hallucinations from the TV that had instructed her to take her daughter’s life or they’d kill her.
“It was SpongeBob who was saying these items on the TV,” Eberline continued. “If she didn’t do what she did to her daughter they’d kill her. She mentioned she was afraid for her life and she or he had misplaced her thoughts.”
Johnson sobbed as she was led into the courtroom in shackles, and cried all through the listening to, MLive reported.
Prosecutors referred to as Johnson’s brother, Knesley Johnson Jr., to the stand as their first witness.
Knesley Johnson mentioned that he had left for work on Sept. 16 round 2:30 p.m., including there was nothing uncommon about his sister or his niece when he’d gone. When he returned from work on Sept. 17 round 3:30 a.m., he requested his brother the place their sister and Sutton had been.
When the brother, 17, went to the again of the house to search for them, he mentioned he noticed a human baby’s foot protruding of a bag, Knesley Johnson testified.
The brother, who was not named as a result of his age, additionally testified on Friday. He mentioned he bumped into his sister within the toilet at 6 a.m. on Sept. 16, the place he mentioned it seemed as if Johnson had been “doing traces” of cocaine, however he was unsure.
The teenager mentioned he requested his sister the place Sutton was.
“She mentioned, ‘Thoughts your individual F***ing enterprise.’ However that’s like her regular response,” he mentioned, MLive reported.
Shortly after the encounter, the brother mentioned Justine Johnson exited the home to strategy a purple car that had stopped at a retailer throughout the road. He mentioned she returned residence shortly after earlier than going out once more. He went to the seashore and returned residence round 10 p.m., at which period he mentioned no person was residence.
The 17-year-old described the second he discovered Sutton’s physique in a bag.
“There was like a foot protruding of the bag,” he mentioned. “I ran up and advised Knesley, ‘There’s a foot in a bag.’ He didn’t imagine me. He thought I used to be joking.”
The brothers seemed on the bag then referred to as their uncle, he mentioned.
Oscoda Township Police Officer Gerald Soboleski responded to the residence within the early morning hours of Sept. 17 after the brothers reported discovering the foot.
“Knesley began telling me about how he got here residence from work on this present day and seemed all through the home for his sister and niece and was unable to find them,” the officer testified Friday. “At that time, he mentioned, ‘After which we discovered this,’ referring to what we later discovered was the human foot.”
Soboleski mentioned he went to a again room of the home, the place he discovered a blue tote bag with two rubbish baggage stacked on prime with a foot uncovered.
“I felt the underside of the kid’s foot. It was chilly to the contact, and EMS was referred to as to the scene,” he mentioned. He proceeded to name detectives from the division and a medical expert to reply.
Investigators discovered a number of bloodstains on a hallway closet door, on lounge couches, and on gadgets in a bed room, Shane Hill, a forensic scientist with Michigan State Police Crime Lab testified.
Three knives had been additionally present in a bed room, Hill mentioned.
Sutton’s physique was wrapped in a comforter inside the again, together with a pair of denims that examined optimistic for blood. Hill testified that it was most certainly that Sutton was killed inside the house.
Iosco County medical expert Dr. Jaya L. Sankaran mentioned Sutton had stab wounds in her neck, chest, and stomach, with one massive wound exposing a part of the kid’s small gut.
Prosecutors requested Choose Christopher Martin to maneuver Johnson’s case over to Circuit Court docket for trial. The request was granted and a pre-trial listening to was scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Feb.28. He ordered Johnson stay in jail with out bond.
“My coronary heart goes out to the household who’s right here,” the decide mentioned on the listening to’s finish. “Good luck to you, Justine, as your case proceeds.”
