Let me address a couple of points about this case that you could find if you had followed it from day 1 like many of us here did.
Yes, she was put in jail and lost custody of her children previously for abuse. During that time, our beautiful butterfly Jhessye lived a wonderful, magical, and loving life with her foster parents (who are related to her). Upon being released from jail, this "woman" (I will not call her a mother) took Jhessye from the only home environment that she had been safe in. She was likely taken for the purposes of getting additional welfare money; not out of love or respect. She was treated by this "woman" as property.
There are eye-witness accounts to Jhessye being abused yet again. There is a sibling that places her in the closet for a long period of time until she disappeared. This eye-witness account was corroborated by the evidence police found at the home and in that closet.
The woman that tells the account of taking a suitcase to a dumpster was fully checked out. They would not have spent the time, money, and effort at the dump if the evidence didn't follow the account. The evidence included evidence of decay in the woman's trunk. No, they did not find her body at the dump. That does not mean it was not there. I have watched multiple accounts of bodies sent to the dump where the police know exactly where and when it was dumped and it is still almost impossible to find. This was a small, malnourished little girl in a suitcase. It is very likely that - especially after such a long time - it would be near impossible to find her remains in a suitcase.
These children were brutalized by this monster. She deserves to be in jail because she committed a crime. No, I do not think she is capable of rehabilitation. However, that is strictly MOO. The child that testified against her will need help her entire life because of the treatment she suffered at the hands of this GUILTY person - J. Hunter. Sorry, but that is MOO and one that I hold strongly based on all of the information presented during the long trip from the time Jhessye went missing to the time that J Hunter was found guilty.
You are probably right in implying that I should have researched more before my first post. I seem to have been totally wrong about why she went to jail the first time, and although that needs to be researched more it does point strongly against her so far.
Regarding the search for the body, 30 years ago landfills were rough places to search for anything. Today a lot of records are kept in detail and it should have been possible to find the body if it were there. The more I have seen of that aspect of the case the weaker it looks, and at the very least I wish that searchers had continued until they could say either the body was there or it was not.
As for the bigger issue, no mother kills a child unless there is some extraordinary stress, and a person could also say that any person could be subject to stress that would cause them to do something even as far as that woman is accused of. If she is guilty I don't see what real benefit is arrived at by demonizing her rather than analyzing her situation. Another person in her situation is not going to be prevented from committing a similar crime, any more than she was prevented by her direct knowledge of the legal system. That's for a different forum obviously...
Just starting to research a little, I'll copy one paragraph I read from a photobucket link on the first page and not post any more on this thread unless there is good reason
"Johnson said she worries about the childrens' welfare under foster care, saying the youngest has had bad foot infections that went untreated and had somehow suffered a broken arm. She said the younger two had been in four different foster homes and that the oldest child had attempted suicide twice." I don't know if that is true or not but ... http://photobucket.com/gallery/user/crankycrankerson/media/bWVkaWFJZDo1MDU5MDE0Mw==/?ref=1