Former University student Lindsay Johnson appears for pre-trial

By Luke Cooper, Staff Reporter

Former University student Lindsay L. Johnson appeared at the Champaign County Courthouse in Urbana for her pre-trial hearing Tuesday morning. Johnson was charged with murdering her newborn son.

At the hearing, Judge Thomas J. Difanis of the Sixth Circuit Court in Illinois agreed to a March 2 plea hearing at 11:30 a.m. in courtroom B.

On Apr. 11, 2016, Johnson was specifically charged with first-degree murder, child endangerment and concealment of a homicidal death.

As originally reported by the Daily Illini on May. 9, 2016, University police headed to Bousfield Hall after receiving a call around 5 p.m. about a student who had been in the bathroom for several hours. After arriving, they found Johnson who told officers she had the stomach flu and did not need help.

The officers left, but returned to Bousfield Hall around 7:30 p.m. after receiving additional calls about a woman who might have given birth to a baby in a bathroom.

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Less than an hour later, officers found Johnson by the Music Building. UIPD moved her to the University’s Public Safety Building, where she was questioned.

If convicted, Johnson faces the possibility of a 20 to 60 year sentence for first-degree murder, 10 to 20 year sentence for child endangerment and two to five years for the concealment charge.

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