Unemotional mother pleads not guilty in stabbing death of 3-year-old daughter found in trash bag

A Michigan mom showed little emotion in a court appearance Tuesday on felony murder charges after she allegedly stabbed her 3-year-old daughter to death and stuffed her into a garbage bag.

Justine Johnson, 22, was arraigned Monday in 81st District Court in Tawas City on one count each of felony murder and first-degree child abuse. She pleaded not guilty to both charges and is scheduled for a Sept. 28 probable cause conference.

Sutton Moser was found around 4 a.m. Friday by her uncle, WJRT-TV reported, a day after Johnson told him to mind his own business when he asked where her child was. Hours after finding Sutton’s body, police came upon Johnson walking along railroad tracks, refusing to talk about her child’s death.

Justine Johnson is accused of killing her daughter.
Justine Johnson is accused of killing her daughter.


Justine Johnson is accused of killing her daughter. (Iosco County Jail /)

Each of the charges could carry life in prison, reported the Oscoda Press. Johnson appeared all but unemotional during the hearing held over zoom, but responded to questions and said she understood what was going on, the Oscoda Press said.

Johnson was ordered held without bond after Iosco County Prosecuting Attorney James Bacarella told the court that she was a danger to the community and to herself, and Judge Christopher Martin concurred, due to the serious nature of the crime.

“This was a very violent and brutal murder,” Bacarella said, according to the Oscoda Press. “We have genuine concerns for the public’s safety, and there is also the fact that Ms. Johnson has engaged in self harm since the crime.”

Johnson’s mother and Sutton’s grandmother, Alisa Johnson, said she could not believe her daughter would have harmed the tot and thinks she is innocent.

“Justine loved Sutton with all her heart,” Alisa Johnson told WNEM-TV. “She’d never let anybody hurt that baby. She would always be there for her, she never did anything to hurt her.”

Police said the investigation is ongoing.

The crime has jolted the neighborhood.

“It’s a shock,” Martin Gayeski, who owns the laundromat across the street from the home, told WJRT. “She was a customer here, I knew who she was; it shocked me because she didn’t seem to be that kind of a person.”

With News Wire Services

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