Missouri Executes Mentally Ill Johnny Johnson for Murdering 6-Year-Old Girl

Missouri has executed death row inmate Johnny Johnson for the 2002 murder of a 6-year-old girl, despite his attorneys' claims of mental incompetence. Johnson was sentenced to death for abducting and attempting to rape Casey Williamson. Governor Mike Parson denied a clemency request, and Johnson was put to death by lethal injection. This marks the fourth execution in Missouri this year and the 16th in the United States. The US Supreme Court denied Johnson's request for a stay of execution, with three liberal justices dissenting. Johnson's mental illness was a point of contention, with a neuropsychiatrist finding him incompetent to be executed, while the state disputed these findings.