Before we knew Precious Doe's name was Erica Green, Alonzo Washington was accused of being a spotlight thief, of using a child's murder to pad his reputation as a community activist. But it was strictly for Green's benefit that Washington connected an 81-year-old tipster from Muskogee, Oklahoma, to the Kansas City Police Department. The tipster, Thurmon McIntosh, said he'd called the KCPD 50 times in the years that the murder went unsolved, but he wasn't taken seriously until he responded to a newspaper ad that Washington had placed, which offered $33,000 as a reward. After four years, KC cops finally charged Harrell L. Johnson with the crime. (Johnson is married to Erica Green's mother, Michelle Johnson, who is charged with other crimes.) Sure, Washington's statements are over-the-top, and he's not particularly modest: "I helped [the police] solve the biggest crime in Kansas City, and they were still pissed off at me. They thought I made 'em look bad," he tells us. "They're at the funeral holding her casket and were too racist to find her head." But he deserves credit for helping the city put a little girl to rest.
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