A woman in Michigan says the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants told her to kill her nearly 3-year-old daughter and dispose of her remains.
Justine Johnson, 22, of Oscoda Township, has been charged with first-degree child abuse and felony murder for the death of Sutton Mosser two days before the child’s third birthday.
According to WNEM, Michigan Child Protective Services investigators said at a hearing earlier this month that Johnson was suffering from hallucinations brought on by drug withdrawal.
“She told me that she didn’t remember the specifics of what happened at the time of what happened to Sutton, that she was experiencing hallucinations due to heroin withdrawal and not sleeping for approximately two weeks,” CPS investigator Ryan Eberline said in court.
“She was getting hallucinations from the TV that had instructed her to take her daughter’s life, or they would kill her. 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,” Eberline testified.
He conducted a jailhouse interview with Johnson on Oct. 1, 2021, according to WNEM.
According to law enforcement, the child’s body, which had multiple stab wounds, was found in a garbage bag, WJRT-TV reported.
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