Mullins-Johnson Case Summary

Around 7:00 am in the morning of June 27, 1993, Kim Lariviere found her 4-year-old daughter, Valin Johnson, dead in her bed. She was lying on her stomach with her knees pulled up towards her chest and her rear raised up off the bed.[1] She was still in her pajama but there was vomit on her, her bed and the floor. When she turned Valin over, she felt that her body was cold and stiff and that her face had turned purple. She cried out, alarming her husband, Paul Johnson, and his brother, 23-year-old William Mullins-Johnson. She then rushed to call 911 while her husband and Mullins-Johnson tried to resuscitate Valin. Moments later, ambulance attendants arrived but could not find a pulse and pronounced her dead. Initially, she and her husband taught that Valin’s death was a result of choking on her vomit as she did have a history of vomiting in bed. Soon after, Sault Ste. Marie Police Sergeant Robert Welton and Constable Jane Martynuck arrived at the house. They took statements from Paul and Mullins-Johnson while Valin’s body was taken to Sault Ste. Marie Hospital for an autopsy.[1,2]
From the statements, on the night of June 26, 1993, Mullins-Johnson, who had been living in his …show more content…
She went ahead to do some laundry and watched television with Mullins-Johnson before taking a shower then went to bed at around 11:30 pm. Not long after, around midnight, Mullins-Johnson’s friends came over. They stayed till about 1:30 am, after which, all four of them decided to go out to look for a party. Around 2:00 am, Valin’s father returned home. He had stayed out drinking with his friends after the game and had had about 10 to 15 cans of beers. An hour later, at around 3:00 am, Mullins-Johnson returned home. From 8:00 pm onwards, none of the adults checked on the kids, until the next morning at 7:00 am, when Valin was found