Suspect in Columbia infant death apparently released from custody
Mitchell Kaminski
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) — A Fayette woman charged with second-degree murder in the 2021 death of an 8-month-old girl is the subject of an active arrest warrant.
But two days after the warrant was issued, court and prison records indicate she still isn’t in custody.
Jennifer Johnson was scheduled to appear in court at 9 a.m. Monday, July 14 for charges including second-degree felony murder and first-degree endangering the welfare of a child. She is accused in the death of Hannah Kent.
A Tuesday court filing shows that she was sent to the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
However, Arkansas DOC spokesperson Rand Champion told ABC 17 News in an email that a Jennifer Johnson was put on parole on June 16 and no one with that name is in custody. The spokesperson said a middle name was not available in their system.
According to the Missouri Department of Corrections, Johnson was released Monday. She had previously been incarcerated in Missouri from April 27-May 19, 2022, and again from May 23, 2022-June 16, 2025, despite the Boone County Jail having her listed on a no-bond hold.
Boone County courts issued a warrant for her arrest on Tuesday. Prosecutor Roger Johnson declined to comment on Thursday.
Court records list Johnson’s address in the 2001 block of Holly Avenue. But when ABC 17 News visited the property, the home appeared abandoned, and the lot surrounding it was under construction.
Columbia police arrested Johnson in April 2021, after being called to a home in the 1000 block of Elleta Boulevard in north Columbia.
According to court documents, police were dispatched to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Columbia on the morning of April 18, 2021, where they were informed that an 8-month-old, Hannah Kent, who was under Johnson’s care, had died.
Court documents indicate the parents left Kent and other children in Johnson’s care beginning around 5 p.m. the previous day.
The mother found the child around 8:30 a.m. unresponsive and cool to the touch after returning home and immediately noticed bruising, court documents indicate. The parents then took the child to Women’s and Children’s Hospital, where the infant was pronounced dead at 8:45 am.
Johnson allegedly told police that she last saw the infant alive at 2:15 a.m. after giving a bottle to the child, the probable cause statement says.
According to court documents, Johnson took a call from the parents saying the baby had died and the parents wanted to see Johnson.
Two people who knew Johnson brought items that Johnson had at the home to the Columbia police, court documents say. Investigators allegedly found baby formula on Johnson’s clothes, and a swab of the same shirt tested positive for blood.
Johnson was previously charged with two counts of assault in Howard County in 2019. The complaint in the case states she strangled and bit another woman.
Kent’s family declined to comment.
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