Boone County prosecutors have charged a Fayette woman with second-degree murder after police found an 8-month-old girl dead at a north Columbia home.
Police arrested Jennifer Johnson, 44, Monday morning. Johnson was in the Boone County Jail on Monday with no bond.
Court documents report the parents left the child and two other siblings in Johnson's care beginning around 5 p.m. Saturday.
The mother found the child around 8 to 8:30 a.m. unresponsive and cool to the touch after returning home. The parents then took the child to Women's and Children's Hospital.
Johnson told police that she last saw the victim at 2:15 a.m. after giving a bottle to the child.
According to court documents, Johnson took a call from the parents saying the baby had died and the parents wanted to see Johnson. Upon arrival, they discovered the eight-month-old girl and called detectives from the Criminal Investigations Division who determined the death was a homicide. As a result, Johnson was arrested for second degree murder, child abuse and first degree child endangerment.
Items that Johnson had at the home were given to Columbia police. Investigators found baby formula on Johnson's clothes and it tested positive for blood
krcgtv.com
