Jennifer Johnson is a killer from Missouri who was convicted of the murder of eight month old Hannah Kent
According to court documents Jennifer Johnson was babysitting eight month old Hannah Kent. The next morning the mother of Hannah Kent would find her cold and covered in bruises
Jennifer Johnson would be questioned by police and would deny killing the infant however her statements would change and she denied having blood on her clothing
Jennifer Johnson would be arrested and charged with murder
Jennifer Johnson lawyers at trial attempted to blame the siblings of Hannah Kent however prosecutors would point out all of her lies during questioning and she was the last person to see Hannah Kent alive
The jury went with the prosecutors and Jennifer Johnson was found guilty. She would be sentenced to life in prison without parole
Jennifer Johnson Case
A Fayette woman was sentenced to life in prison on Monday after being found guilty of the 2021 murder of 8-month-old Hannah Kent in Columbia.
Jennifer Johnson, 49, was found guilty in early January of second-degree felony murder and two counts of first-degree child endangerment, according to previous KOMU 8 reporting.
She was sentenced to life imprisonment on the murder charge and 15 years in prison on each count of child endangerment. Boone County Judge Brouck Jacobs delivered the sentence.
Kent’s family gave victim statements in court.
“I suffer from deep sadness, anxiety, trauma that affects my ability to function, to sleep,” Lanetta Hill – Kent’s mother said.
Kent’s aunt also spoke.
“Every holiday, every family gathering, we carry a life-time sentence of grief,” Shariah Hill said.
Kent’s mother ended her statement by thanking the judge.
“And I want to thank you for speaking on behalf of my baby girl, who no longer has a voice,” Hill said.
During the closing arguments of the jury trial, the prosecutor, Risa Perkins argued Johnson was the only person who could have killed Hannah. Although Johnson adamantly denied killing Hannah during questioning in 2021, Perkins also pointed to other lies that Johnson allegedly told.
Perkins pointed to statements Johnson made including that she was asleep from 9 p.m. to midnight the night she babysat Hannah, denial that there was blood found on her clothes and why Hannah’s clothes had been changed while in her care, according to previous KOMU 8 reporting.
The defense attorney, Manuel Tatayon, said Hannah’s injuries could have been her siblings’ doing. The night Hannah died, she slept on the same bed as her 2-year-old and 3-year-old siblings. Tatayon also argued Johnson could have been intermittently sleeping between her phone activity, according to previous reporting.
Dr. Carl Stacy, the pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Hannah, testified for the prosecution. He pointed out multiple places of trauma throughout Hannah’s body, including bruises on her head, chest, abdomen and back, according to previous reporting.
In body camera footage from Columbia police officer Turner Schuster that was presented during the trial, Johnson said Hannah was healthy when she put her to bed at 2:15 a.m. The next person to reportedly see Hannah was Hannah’s mother, Lanetta Hill’s oldest daughter at 6 a.m., when Hannah was found bruised and cold to the touch, according to previous reporting.
Hill testified during the trial as well. Johnson had babysat her children on multiple occasions prior to Hannah’s death. On this occasion, she returned home to her baby with bruising on her face and body cold, she testified. Hill said she attempted to give Hannah CPR and took her to the hospital, according to previous reporting.
Others testified, including Hill’s sister and a nurse who gave the Hannah CPR when Hill went to the hospital.
Babysitter given life in prison for Columbia infant’s murder | Mid-Missouri News | komu.com
