A woman in Michigan in the US has been charged with murder days after her three-year-old daughter’s body was found with stab wounds inside a rubbish bag.
Justine Johnson, 22, was charged in Tawas City with murder and first-degree child abuse. She pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Police were called last Friday to a home in Iosco County in Michigan after a rubbish bag with a human foot protruding from it was found at the home. Police said the bag contained the body of Johnson’s daughter, Sutton Mosser.
Iosco County Prosecutor James Bacarella said the girl had suffered multiple stab wounds.
The girl’s grandmother, Alisa Johnson, said she believed her daughter was innocent and would never have hurt her child.
“Justine loved Sutton with all her heart. She’d never let anybody hurt that baby,” she told a regional TV station.
According to a statement, one of Johnson’s brothers found the bag with the child’s body inside. The statement says that the day before he had asked Johnson where her child was and she told him to mind his business, the TV station reported.
Officers found Johnson walking along railway tracks hours after the discovery of her daughter’s body. She told officers she did not want to talk about her child’s death, according to the statement.
