NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. – More than 3½ years after she last saw her 34-year-old daughter, Anne Johnson is still praying for justice.
Joleen Cummings disappeared in May 2018. Her remains have never been found.
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Johnson, Cummings’ mother, has closely followed the case of the woman accused of ending her daughter’s life. The fate of that woman – Kimberly Kessler -- could be in the hands of a jury as soon as today.
Kessler, Cummings co-worker at a Nassau County hair salon, is charged with murder in Cummings’ death. Following closing arguments in her trial today, the jury will begin deliberating whether to find her guilty.
Johnson posted on social media Thursday morning:
“Today is the day we waited over 3 years for. God is with us. Pray without ceasing justice4joleen.”
After the state and defense both rested their cases on Wednesday, Johnson posted:
“We are still praying and fighting for justice4joleen. Pray for the Judge, State Prosecutors and for all who fought and continue to work Diligently on this case in the name of Jesus Christ we remain in faith. Amen”
PREVIOUS STORIES: Missing woman’s mother makes emotional plea for information | Family marks 3 years since Nassau County mom Joleen Cummings last seen alive
Johnson has rarely missed a court appearance or hearing for Kessler, who at one point was found not competent to face prosecution in the case. But that decision was later reversed, although her defense attorneys have filed several motions since for further mental competency evaluations.
Johnson was one of the first witnesses called to testify in the trial.
She said it wasn’t her daughter’s personality to just disappear.
“She didn’t even acknowledge her birthday,” Johnson said.
Cummings was last seen alive on May 12, 2018, at the Tangles Hair, where she worked with Kessler. Johnson said the next day, Mother’s Day, would have been Cummings’ birthday, but instead, she was reported missing when she didn’t pick up her children to spend time with them that day, as she was scheduled to do.
Much of the testimony during the trial has been about the physical evidence found at the salon that investigators said points to Cummings being killed there.
Despite a lengthy search, including one at a Georgia landfill, no trace of Cummings’ remains has ever been found.
Johnson has said she just wants to be able to lay her daughter to rest.
“A life has been cut short through an act of cruelty,” Johnson wrote in a statement earlier this year, marking three years since Cummings’ disappearance. “The disregard for human life adds overwhelming feelings of turmoil, distrust, injustice, and helplessness to a normal sense of loss and sorrow. The world no longer feels as safe as it once did. When your child is murdered, grief is only the beginning.”