Family, community, say goodbye to 6-year-old murder victim

VALLEY PARK, Mo. -- The 6-year-old schoolgirl who was snatched from her father's home and murdered last week was remembered Tuesday with roses, a kiss and a church elder's testimony to her budding faith.

Mourners gathered at Twin Oaks Presbyterian Church for Cassandra "Casey" William-son's funeral, which was open to the public and carried live on a St. Louis television station. She was abducted Friday morning from her father's home in Valley Park, a small working-class town in southwest St. Louis County. A frantic search ended about eight hours later when her body was found in an abandoned glass factory.

Johnny Johnson, a 24-year-old ex-convict described by police as a drifter, is accused of kidnapping and killing her. Prosecutors haven't said if they will seek the death penalty.

Relatives and friends were joined by scores of people from the community at the funeral. Just before the service started, the girl's parents, Ernie and Angela Williamson, approached the white casket, so small, that sat in front of the pulpit.

Inside the open casket, Casey's hand clutched one stuffed animal with another propped nearby. A family picture was tucked into the lining.

Angela Williamson, clinging to her husband, leaned over and kissed her daughter's cheek.

Some small children, friends of Cassandra's, held pink, long-stemmed roses.

Elder Daryl Lynn, of the Valley Park Chapel, near Cassandra's home, recalled that just last Wednesday, Cassandra recited Bible verses to the congregation, earning a uniform and badge from a church children's group.

On a screen was a picture from the ceremony, showing the 48-pound, blond-haired girl dressed in a blue-jean dress, clutching her heart as she sang a Christian song, her little sister at her side.

"The last picture ever taken of Casey sends a precious message to all of our broken hearts: 'Don't worry about me. I have Christ in my heart. And I will live eternally,"' Lynn said.

Cassandra would have been a first-grader this fall. The Rev. Stan Hall, who ran a daycare center Cassandra used to attend, recalled a girl who was at once feisty and sweet, who gave her friends long, hearty hugs.

"Let's remember Casey -- beautiful, courageous, full of spirit, feisty, smart, loving, loved her savior," Hall said.

The Rev. Rodney Stortz read a poem composed by three teen-age boys touched by the tragedy. One line read, "What lives we live when innocence has no meaning to the world."

"Do you hear the cry of anguish in their voices?" Stortz asked. "It's a cry we all have today."

The crime was the latest of many recent child-abduction cases around the country.

Johnson had been staying for a few days at the home shared by Cassandra's father and his roommate. Ernie Williamson and his wife are separated, but have been trying to reconcile and often spend nights together. Thursday night, the couple and all four of their children were in the home.

Johnson, whom Ernie Williamson had known for only a few days, slept on the couch after staying up much of the night drinking with the roommate, Williamson said.

Shortly after 7 a.m. Friday, Cassandra asked her father for a bowl of cereal. Before pouring it, he left the kitchen briefly and returned to find his daughter gone.

A massive search began. Meanwhile, Johnson, who was also gone, returned, wet and muddy, and told Williamson he had been swimming in the nearby Meramec River. A witness told police Johnson had been seen carrying Cassandra piggyback down the street. Police took him in for questioning.

Around 3 p.m. Friday, a volunteer found Cassandra's body. Police said Johnson admitted to the crime. Court records indicated he tried to sexually assault Cassandra and struck her in the head with a stone when she resisted.

Johnson was being held without bond in a psychiatric unit of the St. Louis County Jail, where he is on suicide watch.