A 22-year-old mother charged with the murder of her 3-year-old daughter claimed she heard voices from her television telling her to hurt her daughter prior to the girl’s death, according to a police report.
Justine Johnson has pleaded not guilty to one count of felony murder and one count of first-degree child abuse, according to the Iosco County, Michigan, Prosecutors’ Office. She is being held without bond. An attorney for Johnson declined to comment when reached by CNN.
According to the police report provided to CNN by prosecutors, Johnson told an official from Iosco County Child Protective Services (CPS) that the cartoon “SpongeBob SquarePants” was on TV when she heard voices through the television and that the television threatened to kill Johnson unless she hurt her daughter, Sutton Mosser.
A CPS official told police Johnson said she was going through heroin withdrawal and used cocaine the day she allegedly killed Sutton, who had turned three years old two days prior to her death, the police report says.
“My office intends to proceed to trial, so a jury” can make a determination of guilt, Iosco County Prosecutor James A. Bacarella told CNN. “This case is a horrible tragedy and I cannot imagine the level of grief felt by the family that loved this child.”
Reached for comment, Johnson’s mother, Alisa Johnson, told CNN, “My daughter loved her child” and “the people are portraying her as someone she is not.”
