KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Four years ago, they said farewell to Precious Doe.
On Saturday, at the same Kansas City church, a community poured its heart out again for the same little girl – Erica Green.
More than 400 people stood, sang, prayed and cried for Erica, known only as Precious Doe until police discovered the 3-year-old’s identity last week and charged two persons in her 2001 murder.
“We’re not here to funeralize precious Erica, but to bring closure,” the Rev. Wallace Hartsfield told the gathering at the Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church, where teddy bears and balloons were spread in front of the altar.
Closure was hard for two persons who knew Erica best. Betty Brown, 72, who raised Erica from birth to age 3 as a foster child in Muskogee, Okla., sat in the front row at the service.
“I was there at the beginning,” Brown, fighting tears, said before the service. “I wanted to be here at the last.”
Dorothy Wright, who lived across the street from Brown, sobbed uncontrollably in the second row and eventually was led away. Erica visited Wright every day and “called her mom,” Brown said.
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Kansas City is thankful for how Brown and Wright looked after Erica, said Jermaine Reed, a University of Missouri-Columbia student who spoke at the service.
“We haven’t forgotten you as a community,” Reed said. “We haven’t forgotten your precious child.”
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Erica Green’s mother, Michelle Johnson, is charged with murder and child endangerment in her April 2001 death in Kansas City.
Johnson’s husband, Harrell Johnson, faces similar charges. Court records say that he kicked Erica in the head, that she died hours or days later, was decapitated and disposed of in a wooded area near Hibbs Park.
“The experience brings us face to face with man’s inhumanity to man; it brings us face to face with evil,” Hartsfield said.
Hartsfield said he has had sleepless nights for a week, thinking of his granddaughter, who is almost 5.
The tragedy hit home the same way for Dorothy Brown of Kansas City, no relation to Betty Brown, who attended Saturday’s service to pray and show her respects.
“It could have been my grandbaby or my great-grandbaby,” Brown said.
At the end of the service, Hartsfield made a point of making children feel loved. He invited them to the front of the sanctuary, where he and other ministers reached out with hugs and touches. He picked one smiling little boy.
Several teenagers spoke, some of them with uplifting messages.
Ailey Pope Coe, 14, said Erica is anonymous no more and “is crying out her name” for everyone to hear.
“Her soul is dancing,” Coe said.
Alvin Nash of Kansas City felt compelled to attend the service.
“She was a part of everyone, a part of this community,” Nash said. “This is a special occasion. This is a good day and a sad day.”
After the 90-minute service, a procession of cars traveled to Hibbs Park at 59th Street and Kensington Avenue, where two concrete benches bear the name Precious Doe.
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A new headstone bearing Erica’s name will be placed at Memorial Park Cemetery, 8251 Hillcrest Road , said Annette Johnson, president of the Precious Doe Committee. Five monument companies have offered donations, she said.
The current headstone might be moved to Hibbs Park, near where her body was found.
About $33,000 in reward money was raised or pledged in 2001. Last week a tipster helped lead police to Erica’s mother and her husband in Oklahoma.
Most of the reward money comes from two sources. The community group Move Up has a $13,000 reward and is looking into how it should be distributed, President Alvin Brooks said. The FBI offered $15,000 but is weeks away from determining distribution, spokesman Jeff Lanza said Saturday.
After the service, Alonzo Washington said the tipster who led police to the alleged killers should get the rewards promptly. The tipster contacted Washington after seeing a newspaper ad commemorating the anniversary of Precious Doe’s death.
Meanwhile, Kansas City detectives returned from Oklahoma on Saturday after several days of investigation that led to the arrests of the Johnsons. The couple waived extradition and could be in Kansas City by Friday.
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(Knight Ridder Newspapers correspondents Eyobong Ita and Christine Vendel contributed to this report.)
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(c) 2005, The Kansas City Star.
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AP-NY-05-07-05 2041EDT
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