VANDALIA, Mo. -- The mother of a 3-year-old girl whose boyfriend killed and decapitated her daughter in 2001 explained in detail last week how she retrieved her daughter's head from a large trash bin and put it in the woods where she and her boyfriend had left the girl's remains.

She hoped, she said, to make it easier for authorities to one day identify her daughter.

Michelle Johnson, the mother of the girl who became known as "Precious Doe," spoke from inside a women's prison in Vandalia.

The 33-year-old, who was sentenced last month to 25 years for the murder, said she'd never forget seeing Harrell Johnson kick her daughter, Erica Green, in the head because the girl wouldn't go to bed.

"When I close my eyes, I see it," she said.

Harrell Johnson was convicted last month of first-degree murder, endangering the welfare of a child and abuse of a child.

Jackson County Circuit Judge John Torrence sentenced Harrell Johnson to life in prison without parole, plus four years for the endangerment and 25 years for the abuse.

Erica never regained consciousness, her mother said. Neither adult called for help, and 10 hours later, she died.

"I heard my daughter take her last breath. And I just told her that, 'I'm going to take care of her sisters and brothers and do what I can do for them, what I couldn't do for her,'" Michelle Johnson said.

Medical experts have said it never had to happen. If Michelle Johnson had called for help, they've said, doctors could have saved Erica.

"I ask myself everyday, 'Why, why didn't I help her.' That's a mother's instinct to protect her child. Why didn't I do what I was supposed to do for my child? No drugs, no man, nothing should be more important than your child."

Police said the pair didn't seek help for Erica because they were wanted on outstanding warrants, but Michelle Johnson said she didn't call police out of fear that authorities would take custody of her other children.

She chose a man, she said, over her child. She agreed to dump Erica's body and sit on a secret that would haunt Kansas City for years.

Erica went unidentified for four years after her remains were found. Community members affectionately nicknamed her "Precious Doe" and kept attention on the case.

After she died, Michelle admitted she and Harrell Johnson carried Erica's body to the woods, but she insisted she didn't see him cut off her daughter's head.

"I have so many questions, and only he can answer. Like 'Why, just why?' Why did he feel like cutting her head off? I mean, in the newspapers they say that I was down there when this happened. I wasn't down there," Michelle Johnson said.

But Michelle Johnson admitted that when Harrell Johnson told her he put Erica's head in a large trash bin, she retrieved it and put it in the woods.

"That's why they think I'm so, a monster. Yeah, I did go back. Yeah I did. I'll admit that," she said. "The next day was garbage day. They would have picked it up. It would have been in the Dumpster, in the sea. They would have never, never known who she was, never, so yeah, I went back."

It took searchers three days to find Erica's head, and while they were looking, Michelle Johnson was right there. She can be seen on video at a park, smiling and waving as police across the street searched for her daughter's remains.

Days turned to weeks and then years. She left town with Harrell Johnson, married him and had two more children.

In 2005, activist Alonzo Washington received a tip from Harrell Johnson's grandfather in Muskogee, Okla., that helped break the case. Johnson and Erica's mother had lived in Muskogee before the killing and moved back there after Erica died.

When Kansas City found the couple, they were already in custody in Oklahoma on charges unrelated to the murder.

"I just wanted my daughter to be known. I wanted my daughter to have peace. I love my baby. I'll never be the same. I just want her to have peace. I want her to go on. That's why I'm here, because I'm admitting that I was wrong. I'm admitting that I didn't protect her like a mother should. It's not about me. It's not about Harrell. It's about my daughter. It's about closure for her," Michelle Johnson said.

As for Harrell Johnson, Michelle Johnson is still married to him.

"What does it matter if I'm not or am? Will I ever see him again, probably not," she said.

She's angry that her husband didn't take any responsibility for Erica's death during his sentencing last week.

In court Thursday, Harrell Johnson said, "Never once have I harmed a hair on her head or did anything to hurt her. God knows my little angel -- Erica -- knows the truth. And I ain't gonna stop fighting until I prove my innocence and the truth is brought to the light."

Harrell Johnson's sentences will run consecutively.

But Michelle Johnson said as Erica's mother, she alone, is to blame.

"All these years, I caught myself putting the blame on him, but I can't. I truly can't, because I just should have, I should have died for my daughter. If it came to choose, I should have died for her. I let her down. Everyday, when I'm in my cell, I think about I wish I could change back time. I wish that she was here," Michelle Johnson said.

She didn't ask Kansas Citians for their forgiveness.

"I know that she had a difficult background. I know she didn't have the advantages that a lot of us enjoy in life, but there are people that come into this courtroom everyday with the same background -- some more difficult circumstances -- and they never resort to the type of criminal activity that she resorted to, so it's not an excuse, and no, I don't feel sorry for her," said Jackson County Prosecutor Jim Kanatzar.

Michelle Johnson said she was grateful to the community for giving "Precious Doe" what she didn't have the courage to give her own daughter, love, a proper burial and finally, a name.

Michelle Johnson said, 'I wanted everybody to know, she's not no Doe. Doe is somebody you don't know. She has, she has a name."