KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A judge handed down a 25-year prison sentence for the mother of a 3-year-old girl who was beheaded and for years was known only as "Precious Doe."

The sentence on Wednesday for Michelle Johnson was what Jackson County prosecutors had recommended.

The 33-year-old Johnson pleaded guilty last year to second-degree murder for her role in the 2001 killing of her daughter, Erica Green.

Johnson's boyfriend at the time, Harrell Johnson, whom she later married, was convicted of first-degree murder earlier this month in the Kansas City slaying. He faces a life sentence.

Michelle Johnson testified against Harrell Johnson at his trial, saying the man kicked Erica in the head, left her to die, and later decapitated and dumped the body.

In court Wednesday, Michelle Johnson said that she was sorry.

"You married the man that murdered your child. How could anybody have sympathy for you?," said Marcie Williams, of the "Precious Doe" Committee. "She married him. She had more kids by him. I think what she said today, it's probably some guilt, but I don't think there's remorse there, not by a long shot do I believe she's remorseful at all."

Michelle Johnson also thanked the community for adopting her daughter, giving her a name and burying her.

The judge, John R. O’Malley, responded by saying there was no closer departure from humanity than when a mother murders her own child.