The Misery Machine - The Case of Justine Johnson + Sutton Mosser

Starting point is 00:00:00 In the early morning hours of Friday, September 17, 2021, police were called to a residence on Cedar Lake Road in Tawa City, located in Michigan's northern lower peninsula. The caller reported having seen a human foot sticking out of a trash bag. Officer Gerald Sobelesky of the Escoda Township Police was directed to the back of the house, where he discovered a blue plastic tote in two garbage bags. One of those bags had a small foot sticking out of it, and it was cold to the touch. What was discovered was the body of a little girl inside of the garbage bag.

Starting point is 00:00:34 Her name was Sutton Mosser. She had been wrapped in a comforter and placed inside of the bag along with a pair of size 11 bloodstained jeans and a black sweatshirt. Authorities also found three knives in a bedroom and blood stains on couches in the living room, a hallway closet door, and in a bedroom. A little girl suffered from multiple stab wounds to her neck, torso, and abdomen, which police believed to be the cause of her death. One of the wounds was so large that part of her small intestine was exposed.

Starting point is 00:01:05 Her tiny body was dressed only in a pink and white disposable diaper. She had just turned three years old two days prior, where she wore a fuzzy pink crown and a pink satin sash atop a My Little Pony T-shirt. However, her mother, 22-year-old Justine Johnson, was nowhere to be found. It's been noted that she had been seen on surveillance cameras the previous day, wearing a black sweatshirt that had an eerie similarity to the one found in the blue tote. Sutton was initially found by her uncle, Nestle Johnson,

Starting point is 00:01:36 and his 17-year-old brother whose name has not been released due to him being a minor. The concern uncle started searching for Sutton after returning home from work to find her not in her bed. The 17-year-old first spotted Sutton in the garbage bag, and when he brought this to Nestle's attention, he thought his brother was joking. Nestle recounted the last time he had seen his niece on September 16th before he left for work at around 2.30 p.m. He described his interaction with both Sutton and Justine as typical, that nothing at all had been out of the ordinary that morning. When he returned home early the next morning between 3.30 and 4 a.m., he was unable to find either his sister or his niece. The younger Johnson sibling alleged that he woke up around 6 p.m. on September 16th to discover his sister.

Starting point is 00:02:25 doing lines in the bathroom. When he asked Justine where Sutton was, she allegedly responded with, mind your own effing business. However, he didn't think too much of this because apparently this was a normal response from Justine. Shortly after their encounter, the brother said Justine exited the house

Starting point is 00:02:42 to approach a red vehicle that had stopped at a store across the street. Allegedly, she soon returned home before going out again. He then left for the beach a short time later. When he returned home around, 10 o'clock at night, no one else was there, and he didn't realize his niece was missing until Nestle came home hours later. After conducting a search, police reportedly found the mother

Starting point is 00:03:07 four and a half hours later around 8.30 a.m. She was walking down the township's railroad tracks when she was taken into custody. At the station, officers asked her several questions concerning the body of her daughter. She responded by telling the police that she did not want to discuss that topic. However, when probed further, Justine told police that after killing her daughter, she had gone to her own apartment where she tried to take her own life. She had been walking back to her mother's house before her arrest. She also admitted to using the day of her daughter's death. As part of their investigation, police accessed Justine's apartment where they found blood on the floor and in a bathtub. However, police have yet to specify whose blood it was. It is believed

Starting point is 00:03:51 that Sutton had been killed inside of the apartment and then transported to the family home. Despite having her own apartment, Justine and her daughter had been staying at Justine's parents' house along with her two brothers so that way her family members could help care for the young girl. Justine was arraigned on Monday, September 20th at the 81st District Court in Tawa City. She received one count of felony homicide and one count of first-degree CA. She pled not guilty to both charges. An investigator with CPS, Ryan Eberline, testified during a preliminary hearing on Friday, February 4th. He said Justine told him that she did not remember the specifics of what happened to her daughter Sutton

Starting point is 00:04:33 because she was hallucinating from heroin withdrawal and a lack of sleep. However, she did claim to be getting messages from the TV, telling her to take her daughter's life or they would kill her. According to Eberline, quote, it was SpongeBob who was saying these things on the TV. If she didn't do what she did to her daughter, they would kill her. She said she was afraid for her life and she had lost her mind, end quote. This bizarre confession took place in a jailhouse interview conducted on October 21st, 2021. For those who are unaware, SpongeBob SquarePants or Simply SpongeBob is an American animated comedy television.

Starting point is 00:05:16 series created by Marine Science Educator and animator Stephen Hillenberg for Nickelodeon. It chronicles the adventures of the titular character and his aquatic friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. According to Eberline, quote, the conversation was very pieced out. We would review things and go back to those things. Overall, the conversation, from what I could conclude, was that near the date of the 16th, she had left her mother's house walking and passed out in the graveyard, end quote. Eberline said Justine told him she tried to take her own life in her apartment. She also told him what she could remember about what happened to her daughter.

Starting point is 00:05:56 Heroin use, addiction, and withdrawal cause many side effects. However, one lesser known symptom is hallucinations. Hallucinations can cause extreme distress, especially amidst other severe withdrawal symptoms, and these can be extremely difficult to manage. heroin hallucinations can be very vivid and intense, causing a great deal of distress. Many people with heroin addiction report that these hallucinations are some of the most difficult withdrawal symptoms to manage. The exact cause of heroin hallucinations is unknown. However, there are some theories about what causes these visions. When a person uses drugs, it changes their brain chemistry. These changes can cause a range of symptoms, including altering one's mood, behavior, and perception.

Starting point is 00:06:40 Withdrawal symptoms happen when someone suddenly stops using drugs or alcohol after chronic use. These symptoms can range from mild to severe, and they typically peak a few days after the last usage. However, Justine admitted to using cocaine the day she allegedly killed Sutton. According to a scientific study published with the National Institutes of Health about heroin and cocaine addiction, the researchers established that cocaine actually inhibits opioid withdrawal symptoms. Throughout the hearing, Justine broke down into sobs. Both of her brothers were called to testify about the events leading up to discovering Little Sutton in the garbage.

Starting point is 00:07:18 After each of her brothers testified, she told them that she loved them as they passed her by in the courtroom. According to Iosco County Prosecutor James A. Baccarella, quote, this is a horrible tragedy, and I cannot imagine the level of grief felt by the family that loved this child, end quote. However, Justin's mother, Alyssa Johnson, feels as if her daughter is being portrayed as someone that she is not.

Starting point is 00:07:41 She believes that Justine is innocent and that she would have never hurt Sutton. She said, quote, Justine loves Sutton with all of her heart. She'd never let anyone hurt that baby, end quote. Alyssa, who had been acting as Sutton's primary caregiver, also noted that, quote, that baby loved me more than anything. She was so close to me.

Starting point is 00:08:02 She always waited for me to come home from work. She was full of life. She was very smart. She knew so many colors, and she could count to almost 30, end quote. Martin Gayeski, the owner of a laundromat located across the street from the Johnson residence, told new sources that it was a shock to learn about the allegations being levied against Justine. He also stated that detectives had asked him to provide copies of his security camera footage for their investigation. With regards to Justine, Gaieski stated, quote,

Starting point is 00:08:34 I've been here a long time, and this is the first time I heard of something like this since the 1970s. She was a customer here. I knew who she was. It shocked me because she didn't seem to be that kind of person. It's unusual to have something like this in a town like this. This is a close-knit community, end quote. As this story is still developing, we'll keep an eye out for updates as soon as they come in. Justine is currently being held without bond at the eye.

Starting point is 00:09:04 Osko County Jail. Please note that she has yet to be tried, so until then, Justine is presumed innocent until proven guilty. She has been deemed mentally fit to stand trial. If found guilty, she could spend the rest of her life in prison. This is the maximum sentence available in Michigan, as the death penalty has been banned since 1963. Judge Christopher Martin offered the mother some parting words.

Starting point is 00:09:32 Quote, My heart goes out to the family who's here. Good luck to you, Justine, as your case proceeds." End quote. So what do you think? Do you think the police have the right person? Do you agree with Justine being declared mentally competent to stand trial? This is a developing case, so if there's any new information, please let us know down below.

Starting point is 00:09:53 Some other creators have highlighted the comedic aspect of being told by SpongeBob to kill someone. We have to remember, no matter who it was, At the end of the day, this is a tragic loss of life. A small community is trying to make sense of this. And a family is grieving the loss of Little Sutton, who barely got a chance to experience what life had to offer before her life was so cruelly taken from her. There is nothing comedic about that.

The Misery Machine - The Case of Justine Johnson + Sutton Mosser

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