Charges In 'Precious Doe' Case

Headless Body Of Little Girl Was Found In K.C. In 2001

(CBS/AP)  For four years, she was known only as Precious Doe, a little girl whose headless body was found along a road. Thursday, police identified the girl, arrested her mother and stepfather on murder charges, and pronounced the sad mystery solved.

The girl with big brown eyes and neat cornrows in her hair was identified as Erica Michelle Marie Green, just shy of 4 when she was found.

Her mother, Michelle M. Johnson, 30, and stepfather Harrell Johnson, 25, were charged with murder and endangering the welfare of a child. Police said the mother told them Harrell Johnson killed the girl with a kick to the head and used hedge clippers to sever her head.

Both suspects were being held in Oklahoma, where they live.

"We have closure," Police Chief James Corwin said. "The little girl that we've known for four years as Precious Doe has a name."

Police said a tip enabled them to identify Erica, but they would not elaborate. And they gave no motive for the little girl's slaying.

Four years after the slaying, an ad by a community activist brought the community's passion for Precious Doe to the surface. A crucial tip from one of Erica's relatives came in, CBS News Correspondent Cynthia Bowers reports.

"If he hadn't reached out to me, we'd still be calling her precious doe," Alonso Washington, the resident who placed the ad in the newspaper, said.