A judge yesterday found that a 20-year-old mother of three who shook her infant daughter to death has been abusive toward her two older daughters – but left open the possibility of her regaining custody of them.
Judge Lee Elkins also allowed Francesca Johnson to continue supervised visits with the girls two hours a week – as she has been doing at Rikers Island, where she was jailed until this week for killing little Amani.
Johnson served more than a year behind bars before pleading guilty Wednesday to second-degree manslaughter in exchange for five years’ probation for the 2001 shaking death of 7-week-old Amani. Sources have said the case was difficult to prove because the infant suffered neurological problems due to a premature birth.
The incident occurred at a Brooklyn foster home, where Johnson lived with her three children. Her surviving daughters, 1 and 3, are in foster care.
Johnson went to Brooklyn Family Court trying to get them back.
At a brief hearing, a judge ruled that the two girls should remain in foster care for 12 more months, after which Johnson could seek to have them returned to her.
But a source told The Post that the girls are in a preadoptive home and Johnson is unlikely to recover them.
The judge did not go into detail about the past abuse of the girls.