She died 25 years ago. On her birthday, KC remembered ‘Precious Doe’ Erica Green
Vaughan Harrison remembers April 28, 2001, “like it was yesterday.”
The then 9-year-old was coming home from a day of playing outside with his cousins when he caught a glimpse of the news.
Family members at East 62nd Terrace reached for the remote, attempting to turn off the TV, covering the child’s eyes and ears.
But for the self-proclaimed “nosy kid,” it was too late. Harrison had already heard about the incident near East 59th Street and Kensington Avenue, later piecing together the details of the child found decapitated in the woods just north of Hibbs Park.
On Friday, Kansas Citians celebrated what would have been 3-year-old Erica Green’s 29th birthday at Hibbs Park, just feet away from The Children’s Memorial built in her honor.
For four years, Erica was known across national headlines as “Precious Doe.”
“Effectually, you had a real life boogeyman potentially prowling the streets,” said Harrison, now in his mid-30s. “And so it not only shifted the way that people parented, it shifted the way that us as kids felt. We didn’t know what adults that we can trust anymore.”
Erica’s mother, Michelle Johnson, and her mother’s then-boyfriend, Harrell Johnson, were both convicted of her murder.
Days before her death, Harrell Johnson kicked Erica in the head after she refused to go to bed. After at least two days, the child died, and Harrell Johnson decapitated her with hedge trimmers.
On what would have been Erica’s 29th birthday, Harrison and several individuals close to Erica’s case spoke about the child, keeping her memory alive.
Kansas City civic leader Alvin Brooks, 94, said Erica would be a “beautiful 29-year-old” today. The founder of AdHoc Group Against Crime was there in the days following the child’s death, searching the neighborhood for clues and canvassing the area for potential witnesses. He recalled a conversation with Erica’s mother, Michelle Johnson.
“We were passing out flowers, but she walked with me and she said, ‘Mr. Brooks, I hope we’ll find out who this baby is,’” Brooks said.
David Bernard, a retired Kansas City police detective who investigated Erica’s death, said it’s “only natural” to think about who Erica may be today had she lived.
“We mourn what happened to this innocent little girl, but we can’t allow grief to overshadow the positive impact that this child made in her brief time on this earth,” Bernard said.
Through the investigation into Erica’s death, Bernard said he learned that there were “scores of individuals” who knew what the Johnson's had done to the toddler. It wasn’t until a monetary reward was offered that an individual came forward with information.
Bernard, who often set a place at his dinner table for Erica during the investigation, said it is important for “all of us to keep repeating the words: if you see something, say something.”
“We need to look forward to the future with the hope that we can do all we can to prevent future ‘Precious Doe’s,’” Bernard said. “Celebrate the lives of our precious children that we protect, so that each may grow up to be one of the amazing individuals that Erica Green was on the path to be, and might have been.”
Other speakers at the event represented AdHoc Group Against Crime and the Precious Doe Committee.
Harrison, an investigative reporter at The Kansas City Defender, credits Erica as a “driving force” in his choice to become a journalist. In April, he wrote an article for the newspaper about reclaiming Erica’s name.
He believes it was “really beautiful that the community rallied” around Erica, claiming her “when no one else would.”
“But I think 25 years later, it’s important that we recognize that she had an identity before all of this happened to her. When she was Erica Green, and she was being taken care of by Betty Brown,” Harrison said.
Erica was a happy, bubbly and vivacious child who frequently went to church with her mother and loved Barney & Friends, Harrison said.
“And calling her Erica Green now is making sure that Kansas City knows, and that her family knows, that she is so much more than what happened to her,” Harrison said. “I think it’s ok if people want to continue calling her Precious Doe. But for me, I’m going to say the name that she has.”
