For more than five years, Stephanie Johnson has been battling her daughter’s murderer and his father for custody of her grandson. Soon, she may be barred from speaking out about her plight.
On March 23, Barry Hardy, whose son, Shaun, is in prison for killing Anne-Christine Johnson in late 2016, asked a Galveston County family court judge to issue a sweeping gag order in the custody fight. In a separate motion, Barry—who has had primary custody of Shaun and Anne-Christine’s son since the murder and has strictly limited her family’s access to him—asked the judge to seal the case records from public view.
An amicus attorney appointed to help the judge decide the case is supporting the motion to gag, which increases the likelihood that it will be granted.
