Sutton Mosser's Death: Mother Sentenced To Life After She Claimed SpongeBob Told Her to Kill 3-Year-Old Daughter

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Just two days after her third birthday, Sutton Mosser was sadly stabbed to death by the one person who should have kept her safe—her own mother.

Her mom, Justine Johnson, later said she was hallucinating and believed the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants, told her to kill her daughter.

This case is one of the most heartbreaking crime stories in recent times which involves mental health problems and drug use.

Justine Johnson, who was 23 years old at the time, had reportedly been diagnosed with several mental health issues at age 13, including borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, ADHD, anxiety, and depression.

However, by September 2021, she had stopped taking her prescribed medication for a whole year, according to MLive News 

During that time, she was using heroin and meth, which made her mental situation even more serious.

She later confessed that she started having hallucinations and didn’t even realize that Sutton was with her when the tragedy occurred. 

Justine Johnson and her daughter, Sutton Mosser 



The Unbelievable Discovery 

On the afternoon of September 16, 2021, Justine Johnson was at home with her three-year-old daughter, Sutton Mosser.

They lived in a family house on Cedar Lake Road in Oscoda Township, Michigan, which they shared with Justine’s parents and two brothers.

Around 2:30 p.m., one of her brothers, Knesley Johnson, left for work after a short talk with her.

According to New York Post, he noticed nothing unusual about Johnson or Sutton, who seemed to be under her mother’s care.

Later that day, her 17-year-old brother saw her in the bathroom reportedly snorting some kind of powder.

When he asked where Sutton was, Johnson answered angrily, telling him to “mind your own fucking business,” which he said was normal for her.  

Justine left the house several times that day, and by around 10 p.m., her brothers noticed that both she and Sutton were missing, which was unusual.

While looking around the house, the 17-year-old checked the back room and saw a small foot sticking out of a trash bag. 

The brothers then called their uncle, who contacted the police.

Officers arrived soon after, and Oscoda Township Police Officer Gerald Soboleski confirmed that the foot was from a child. 

EMS and the medical examiner were called to the scene, where Sutton’s body was officially identified.

Johnson’s whereabouts at the time Sutton’s body was found were unclear, but she was later located and arrested. 

Justine Johnson and her daughter, Sutton Mosser 


Justine Johnson’s Confession and the Investigation 

During her interview with detectives, Justine Johnson said she had been having serious hallucinations in the days before Sutton’s death.

She said that she was trying to stop using heroin and hadn’t slept for about two weeks before the tragedy. 

However, Justine told criminal investigators she couldn’t clearly remember what happened to Sutton.

She said she left the house at one point, passed out in a nearby graveyard, and later came back home.

When she got back home, she said she had a mental breakdown caused by heroin withdrawal and not sleeping for a long time. 

According to police reports, Justine said she suddenly heard the voice of a cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants from her TV, telling her to kill her daughter or she would die instead.

She said she was scared and felt like she had "lost her mind."

She claimed she tried to hurt herself but failed, and then ended up fatally attacking Sutton.

However, she couldn’t clearly explain the stabbing and only admitted she must have done it based on the evidence.

Criminal investigators later discovered that Justine had stabbed Sutton 17 times in the neck, chest, and stomach.

According to police, one of the wounds was so deep that it exposed part of her small intestine.

She then wrapped Sutton’s body in a blanket, put it in a black trash bag, and hid the bag inside a blue storage bin in a back room of the house.

During an investigation of the crime scene,  bloodstains were found on a hallway closet door, the living room couches, and on some items in the bedroom. 

Three knives were also recovered and detectives believed they were the murder weapons.

Crime scene investigators also found 13 fingerprints on the trash bag that held Sutton’s body, and forensic tests confirmed they all belonged to Johnson.

Additionally, detectives also found a bloody palm print on a wall, which matched Sutton’s, suggesting that she had tried to fight back before she died.

Surveillance footage from nearby businesses helped create a timeline of Justine Johnson’s movements on the day of the murder.

The videos showed her leaving and coming back to the house several times, often looking confused. 

Several witnesses, including a driver who gave her a ride that day, said Justine seemed disoriented and possibly under the influence of drugs.

Her younger brother also said he saw her acting strange in the bathroom, possibly snorting some kind of powder, but he didn’t witness the actual crime. 

Even though Johnson said she was having psychosis and drug-related hallucinations, the physical evidence showed she was the only person who carried out the horrific crime. 

SpongeBob SquarePants 

Justine Johnson 



Justine Johnson’s Trial and Sentencing 

After her confession, Justine Johnson was charged with first-degree felony murder and first-degree child abuse.

On February 28, 2022, Johnson appeared in Iosco County Circuit Court for a preliminary hearing, where prosecutors presented strong evidence supporting the charges against her.

The prosecution stressed that, despite her claims of drug-induced psychosis, the forensic evidence proved the attack was deliberate and violent.

Johnson later pleaded guilty to both charges, and on March 27, 2023, she appeared in court for her sentencing.

She addressed the court saying she was sorry, but wasn’t sure if she was the one who really committed the crime. 

“If it was me who committed this murder, I expect to be punished,” she said.

Iosco County Circuit Judge David C. Riffel found this statement troubling and said the evidence clearly showed she was guilty.

The prosecutor argued that Justine’s actions, like stabbing Sutton many times, deserved the harshest punishment. 

Judge Riffel agreed and sentenced her to life in prison without parole for first-degree murder, plus 18.75 to 50 years for first-degree child abuse to be served at the same time. 

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