The parents of Kendrick Johnson are still living a nightmare that began at the beginning of 2013. On January 11, their son Kendrick Johnson was found dead inside a rolled-up gymnasium mat at the Lowndes County High School in South Georgia. From that day, the Johnson family would not only find themselves mourning the loss of their son but fighting for the justice they seek in coming to a conclusive answer as to what really happened to Kendrick.
The Johnson family took another step, one of many they’ve had to take, in seeking justice for their son last Tuesday by suing the Lowndes County school district.
CNN reported:
The lawsuit was filed in State Superior Court on Tuesday. It alleges that Lowndes County Board of Education was negligent and violated Johnson’s constitutional right to equal protection based on race. Johnson was African-American.
The Johnson family accuses the school district of knowing their son was bullied – pointing to a school bus fight in 2012 he was involved in with a white male – and doing nothing about it.
Family attorney Chevene King:
The school obviously failed because it is unimaginable how it is that someone such as Kendrick could go missing in the middle of a school day, where you have essentially 3,000 people on that high school campus, and nobody knew what had happened to him, and where his body was, until some 18 hours or more later.
How It All Began
The Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office ?determined? that Kendrick had gotten stuck in the rolled-up mat while trying to retrieve a shoe, and died. An autopsy performed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation ruled the death accidental as a result of ?positional asphyxia? also, and the case was closed on May 2nd, 2013.
The Johnson family immediately disagreed with the findings. How could a robust young man become trapped completely inside a rolled-up gym mat?
Furthermore, a picture of Kendrick’s badly swollen face was circulated amongst the public and online. The Johnsons claim this is evidence that he suffered a severe beating.
Investigation Bungled From The Start
In addition, the Johnson family and members of the community have questioned the motives and aptitude of the law enforcement involved in the handling of the case. Georgia state law requires that the coroner be immediately contacted and notified. Law enforcement waited six hours before contacting the county coroner. Potential evidence, including a shoe and sweatshirt found at the scene, was not collected. Also, blood smeared on the gym wall found not to be Kendrick’s was not further investigated.
Sheriff’s Lt. Stryde Jones:
?and it was not the blood of Kendrick Johnson? but it doesn’t appear to be involved in our crime in any way? In the opinion of our crime scene personnel, after looking at it closely, the blood appeared as if it’d been there for an extended period of time. It didn’t appear to be very fresh.
This raises the question though of why blood would?be left to dry on a gymnasium wall for any amount of time. This question was also asked by Harold Copus, a former FBI investigator turned private investigator.
There is no way that they would allow whoever was supposed to clean this gym to leave that blood on that wall.
With a lack of surveillance footage showing what happened in the gymnasium despite four surveillance cameras, it is understandable that the Johnson family refuses to believe their son died in a freak accident.
Kenneth Johnson:
My family won’t be satisfied until someone is behind bars and someone is convicted for what happened. Going over it with common sense, how can it be an accident?
A Second Autopsy And Its Startling Revelations
With this determination, the family hired a pathologist to perform a second autopsy. Not surprisingly, the pathologist disagreed with the original cause of death and determined Kendrick’s death was not accidental and was due to ?blunt force trauma.?
CBS Crimesider states:
The private pathologist presented a four-page report of his findings Aug. 15 saying he detected hemorrhaging on the right side of Johnson’s neck. He concluded the teenager died from blunt force trauma near his carotid artery and that the fatal blow appeared to be non-accidental.
To add insult to injury, it was found the teenager’s body was stuffed with newspaper, and the organs had been disposed of as they were deemed too badly decomposed according to Lowndes County coroner, Bill Watson.
Bill Watson has also been quoted as stating:
I’m terribly sorry for the family,” Watson said. “But I don’t think raising all this Cain down here is going to bring closure to them.
Federal Investigation Still Pending
However, ?raising Cain? is what the Johnson family continued to do and a federal investigation into Kendrick’s death that began in late 2013 and is still pending.
NBC News reported:
Federal investigators will probe the strange death of Georgia teen Kendrick Johnson, whose body was found rolled up in a gym mat at his high school in January, they announced Thursday.
U.S. Attorney Michael Moore stated:
I am of the opinion that a sufficient basis exists for my office to conduct a formal review of the facts and investigation surrounding the death of Kendrick Johnson. My objective is to discover the truth, and I believe that can only be done by gathering all of the relevant information surrounding Mr. Johnson’s death.
In March of this year, fellow students and their parents were subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury.
CNN reported:
Kendrick Johnson’s former schoolmates and their parents have been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury investigating the Georgia teen’s 2013 death, according to sources with knowledge of the subpoenas. Among those seen entering the federal courthouse in Macon on Thursday were current students at Lowndes High School and current and former students at Valdosta High School, also located in Lowndes County.
“We just ever wanted the truth” – Jackie Johnson
The community of Valdosta and Lowndes County is divided. Some call for justice. Some call for it to be laid to rest. If nothing else though, the initial investigation appears to have been mishandled when one really takes in all the information. Whether or not this was a case of cover up, racial prejudice, or just plain ineptitude, Kendrick Johnson has been failed.
Family attorney Benjamin Crump:
At best it was incompetence. At worst it was some conspiracy to conceal the truth.
However, a family has lost their son. A mother grieves and a father tries to remain strong. All the while, they continue to search for the answers regarding their son’s death. No matter the circumstances, no family deserves to be put through the hell they have to endure on a daily basis when they wake up to find their son is still gone.
Jackie Johnson:
We just ever wanted the truth. My mind, my soul, my heart can’t rest until I find out what happened to my son.
Liz Lee considers herself a modern woman of the South and hails from the swamps of South Georgia. She votes along no party line and prefers to look at issues from all angles before taking a stance. She takes particular interest in healthcare issues, mental health issues, and the battle for equality. She is also an emphatic advocate for the end to dog breed discrimination legislation. She is a wife, mother of one human child, mother to one furry American Bully, a college student, and also your typical everyday Wonder Woman. When she hangs up her cape, you can find her curled up in her office sewing, writing, playing World of Warcraft, or practicing banjo. You can follow her on Facebook to see what issue she is tackling.
Edited/Published by: WG
