Kevin Johnson is due to be executed on 29 November for killing a police officer in 2005.
The 37-year-old, who has been in prison since his daughter Khorry Ramey was two years old, has requested that the now 19-year-old attends the execution – and she has said she wants to be there.
A 19-year-old has asked a federal court to allow her to watch her father die by lethal injection in Missouri.
Kevin Johnson is due to be executed on 29 November for killing a police officer in 2005.
The 37-year-old, who has been in prison since his daughter Khorry Ramey was two years old, has requested she attends the execution – and she has said she wants to be there.
However, Missouri law bars anyone under 21 from witnessing an execution.
On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed an emergency motion with a federal court in Kansas City, arguing the law serves no safety purpose and violates Ms Ramey’s constitutional rights.
She called her father in a court declaration “the most important person in my life”.
“If my father were dying in the hospital, I would sit by his bed holding his hand and praying for him until his death, both as a source of support for him, and as a support for me as a necessary part of my grieving process and for my peace of mind,” she said.
Court papers said the two have been able to build a bond through visits, phone calls, emails and letters – and last month, she took her newborn son to prison to meet his grandfather.
Meanwhile, Johnson’s lawyers have filed appeals seeking to halt the execution.
They don’t challenge his guilt but claim racism played a role in the decision to seek the death penalty, and in the jury’s decision to sentence him to die. Johnson is black and his victim was white.
His lawyers also argued he has a history of mental illness – and that he was 19 at the time of the crime.
The Supreme Court in 2005 banned the execution of offenders who were younger than 18 at the time of their crime.
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However, in a court filing last week to the court, the Missouri Attorney General’s Office said there were no grounds for court intervention.
“The surviving victims of Johnson’s crimes have waited long enough for justice, and every day longer that they must wait is a day they are denied the chance to finally make peace with their loss,” it said.
William McEntee, a married father-of-three, was among several police officers sent to Johnson’s home on July 5, 2005, to serve a warrant for his arrest for an alleged probation violation.
Johnson’s 12-year-old brother, who suffered from a congenital heart defect, collapsed and began having a seizure. He later died in hospital.
When the police officer later returned to the neighbourhood to investigate unrelated reports of fireworks being set off, Johnson shot him several times.
How it all started
Johnson was sentenced to death in St Louis in 2005 for killing Missouri officer William McEntee just hours after the death of his 12-year-old brother during a police search of their home.
Police officer William McEntee, a husband and father-of-three, was dispatched to Johnson’s home on July 5, 2005 to serve a warrant for his arrest after breaching his probation.
When Johnson saw the police arrive he went to his brother’s room to wake up the 12-year-old who fled to his nan’s house next door.
But when Joseph Long, who had a congenital heart defect, ran to the house he suffered a seizure and tragically died in hospital just hours later.
During Mr McEntee’s trial, Johnson testified that he stopped his mum from entering the house to help his dying younger brother.
Later that evening the cop returned to the neighbourhood after being called to an unrelated job.
Johnson bumped into Mr McEntree and pulled out his weapon and shot the officer twice.
His daughter, who has been without her dad since she was two, said the pair were able to build up a rapport through emails, phone calls and letters.
Last month, Ms Ramsey brought her newborn son to meet his grandad.
Anthony Rothert, from the American Civil Liberties Union, said if she is unable to see her dad for the last time it will cause her ‘irreparable harm’.
They add it also breaches Ms Ramsey’s right to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment and her First Amendment right of association.
Mr Rothert claims the 21 age restriction is not reasonable and does not serve a purpose.
In addition, it is argued in some federal executions states there is no age requirement for the family to watch an execution although there are some states where the minimum age is 18.
Johnson’s lawyers tried to delay the execution after claiming racism played a role in the jury’s decision to sentence him as the officer was white.
The killer, who was 19 at the time, had asked the court to intervene after arguing he has a history of mental illness.
However, the Missouri Attorney General’s Office said in a ruling at the US Supreme Court, there was no reason to delay the execution.
They said: “The surviving victims of Johnson’s crimes have waited long enough for justice, and every day longer that they must wait is a day they are denied the chance to finally make peace with their loss.”
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