KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A mother accused in the beheading of a young girl known for years only as "Precious Doe" will go on trial early next year.
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Michelle Johnson, 31, of Muskogee, Okla., is charged with second-degree murder and child endangerment. Prosecutors allege she failed to seek help as her 3-year-old daughter, Erica Green, lay dying after being kicked by the girl's stepfather in a Kansas City home. Johnson had been scheduled for trial this week, but a Jackson County Circuit Court judge postponed the proceeding and rescheduled it Wednesday for Jan. 22, 2007. Erica's decapitated body was discovered in a Kansas City park in 2001, and her head was found several days later. But it was not May 2005 that Erica was identified and Johnson and her husband, Harrell Johnson, were arrested and charged. Prosecutors allege Harrell Johnson, also of Muskogee, Okla., kicked Erica until she was unconscious, then left her untreated as she lay dying for hours. Harrell Johnson awaits trial separately on a charge of first-degree murder.
