Johnson was the main "sniper" for the 103 gang, Seely said. Im going through everything myself, Paulk said. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. [2], Authorities hypothesized that Johnson had fallen into the mat while looking for a shoe and died after being unable to get out. [5] Crump's application to practice law in Georgia representing Johnson's parents was not ruled on, and he withdrew from representing the family and is no longer participating in the case. They also reported that the blood had likely been there for a long time. estimatingthat the reopened investigation could last a minimumof six months. Respondents include three of Johnson's classmates (two or three respondents are unnamed) and local, state, and federal officials: the school superintendent of Lowndes County, the Valdosta-Lowndes crime lab, the police chief of Valdosta, many sheriff's deputies, the city of Valdosta, the state medical examiner, the GBI and five of its agents, and one FBI agent. [2][13], After the opinion of the private pathologist was released, Johnson's family stated that they believed Johnson had been murdered. This is how you roll in Valdosta, the dead teens mother, Jaqueline Johnson, said of the Lowndes County Sheriffs new findings. Updated After this sad look at the case and death of Kendrick Johnson, read up on another mysterious disappearance, that of Elisa Lam. They purchased this from an individual and he did not give them his true name. But this is one of the most baffling mysteries of this case: the black and white gym shoe that lay on the ground below Kendrick Johnson, the one he was presumed to be reaching for, was lying on top of a pool of blood, but there was no blood on the shoe itself. Pure evil. The sheriff released a 16-page summary of his investigation on Wednesday including pictures from the Lowndes County gym. He said the camera needed to be adjusted after a basketball hit it. An autopsy conducted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation determined the cause of Johnsons death was accidental positional asphyxia. We know that.. Published on February 1, 2022 08:45 AM. VALDOSTA, Ga. The sheriff at the center of the Kendrick Johnson death case says his department has gone through the evidence extensively and found no crime. [26], Shortly before the lawsuit was filed, U.S. Attorney Michael J. Moore said in a statement that a federal investigation was still open and that "the investigation has proven more complicated and taken longer than originally anticipated. A recordingthat reportedly contains an emotional confession of an individual who may have been involved in the suspicious 2013 death of teenagerKendrick Johnsonin Georgiais now being vetted by authorities, police said this week. "Nobody really cares, Jackie Johnson, the teenagers mother, told WAGA-TV. Over the years, the Johnsons have publicly implicated brothers Brian and Branden Bell in Kendricks death. Kendrick Johnson (Part 1) Crime Weekly. [7][8][9][10], On January 11, 2013, the body of Kendrick Johnson was discovered in the gymnasium of Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia, found headfirst in the center of a vertical rolled-up wrestling mat. indicated signs of foul play in the teen's death, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. [6] That lawsuit was subsequently withdrawn. On January 11, 2013, the body of 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson was found in the most unusual of circumstances: upside-down and rolled up in a school gym mat. They were ultimately ordered by a judge to pay close to $300,000 worth of lawyers fees to those they had accused with no evidence. Theyre not going to uncover something that they covered up., Kendrick Johnson investigation: Feds will not file charges, I am quite sure that there will still be a contingent that will believe there was foul play, the sheriff wrote in the report. [29], In November 2015, the Department of Justice filed a motion in the civil case to intervene and stay the case. Crime Junkie did the same thing. CNN A second local investigation into the 2013 death of Kendrick Johnson, the Georgia teenager who was found dead in a rolled-up gym mat, has been closed with no charges filed, according to. The Johnsons have filed several lawsuits since their son's death, winning none of them. [33], On June 20, 2016, the Department of Justice announced that they would not be filing any criminal charges related to Johnson's death, stating, "After extensive investigation into this tragic event, federal investigators determined that there is insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that someone or some group of people willfully violated Kendrick Johnson's civil rights or committed any other prosecutable federal crime. [17], Johnson's family requested that his body be exhumed for a second time and was granted permission by Valdosta city officials. 2023 Cox Media Group. His family says despite the setback, they are not giving up hope. A coach found out he was dead. [21] The area where Johnson's body was discovered, where the gym mats were stored, was outside the range of all of the surveillance cameras. Allegedly they were in an altercation on a school bus prior to Kendricks death. He died on January 10 in the school's gym. Lowndes County police said they believed Kendrick crawled into the mat to retrieve his shoes, became stuck, and continued to burrow into the mat until he became completely trapped and died. A family spokesperson told NPR they are "cautiously. It's a shame we can't spend more time making fun of Perkins using his own experience in stat-padding to prove its existence, citing an obviously cherry-picked stat (MVP Magic Johnson finished 18th . Johnson's family has rejected officials' determination that Johnson's death was accidental and has accused brothers Brian and Branden Bell of murdering Johnson. The new findings were the result of a second investigation by the Lowndes County Sheriffs Office following one by the FBI. Kendrick didnt deserve this., Following public outcry, the Justice Department also investigated Kendricks death in 2013 and closed its case in 2016, finding insufficient evidence to support federal criminal charges., The report from the Lowndes County Sheriffs Office was published by the Valdosta Daily Times newspaper on Wednesday. We knew what the outcome would be from the very beginning, Kendricks father, Kenneth Johnson, told CNN. On May 8, 2013, a judge granted Kendrick Johnsons body be exhumed. [11] However, analysis of the camera systems by the Valdosta Daily Times purported to explain the anomalies, casting doubt on the theory of a cover-up. Johnsons parents have said they think their son was killed. 2:24 PM EST, Thu January 27, 2022, Justice Dept. You're in for a treat! The U.S. Attorney said allowing evidence discovery in the civil suit to continue would have a "chilling effect" on the federal investigation, which had expanded into investigating possible obstruction and grand jury witness tampering. The sheriff said investigators are working to verify the recording and how the individual received the information in order to "follow the chain of custody. Absolutely, they were extorted.. [11] Some of the apparent lapses in coverage were found to result from camera systems that were not synchronized with one another. However, Paulk claimed a woman with the Department of Justice and a man performing the autopsies had developed a close relationship with at one point, the woman saying in an email, I had to make him feel like a man so that he would be open to talking.. But investigators quickly closed their case on the theory that Johnson had simply fallen into the mat while reaching for one of his sneakers. While the lawsuit did not name the person or persons allegedly involved in the January 10 event, nor identify the race of alleged perpetrators, it implied a race-based dimension to the hypothetical assault. The Lowndes County Sheriff's Office closed its initial investigation into Kendrick Johnson's death on May 2, 2013, nearly four months after the 17-year-old was found in the school gym in Valdosta. If it is somebody just doing an extortion racket or a terrible hoax its very, very cruel, and of course, if it is a hoax, well deal with it very sternly, Paulk said. Almost a full day had passed until Johnson had been discovered. His sneakers were shoved behind his knees. Local authorities investigation has found, once again, that Johnson may have reached into the mat to retrieve a shoe, got stuck, then suffocated. Kendrick Johnsons case closed after authorities say no crime found, Reports: 3 children dead, 2 wounded in attack at Texas home, Kellyanne Conway, George Conway To Divorce After Decadeslong Marriage: Report, School punished teen girl for working out in sports bra in 100-degree Texas heat, ACLU says, U.S. court won't require FAA to make airplane seat size, spacing rules, 'Extremely dangerous': Spike in illegal crossings at Canada-Vermont border has feds sounding alarm, SoCal in for cool start to weekend, butlight showers make brief return, Scam alert: arrest warrant calls are fake, sheriff's office says, Heidi Klum's husband thinks the couple's dogs might have been poisoned. The teens parents say they are not convinced. Video shows him walking into the Lowndes High gym on Jan. 10, 2013. Kendrick died as a result of blunt force trauma to his person. "[11], Lt. Stryde Jones, who headed up the investigation for the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office, stated: "We never had credible information that indicated this was anything other than an accident. The body of 17-year-old Johnson was found upside down in a mat in Lowndes County High School in January 2013. Kendrick Johnson: Unsolved Crime or Tragic Accident. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! The Sheriffs Department asserted that Johnson must have accidentally fallen into the center of the mat while reaching for a sneaker, which he had stored there so as not to have to pay for a locker. The case follows a young man that was found dead in 2013. [12] The family retained the services of attorney Benjamin Crump. The dead teens mother, Jaqueline Johnson, told the TV station she is not surprised by the sheriffs findings. "If it's a hoax, it's a very, very cruel hoax to do to Mrs. Johnson," he said. When rolled up, the mat left a 14-inch hole in diameter in the center. We already knew what team you were on. [15], Johnson's family filed a legal action to open a coroner's inquest into his death. The three teens were classmates. Valdosta, Georgia CNN For the local sheriff's department, the death of 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson is a closed book: A tragedy, but an accident. That material included grand jury testimony, results from an autopsy conducted by federal authorities and additional digital evidence. I made a promise to the people Id go through every piece of [evidence].. Unsatisfied with the result of the investigation, they hired an independent autopsy conducted by William R. Anderson with Forensic Dimensions in Heathrow, Florida, on June 15, 2013. The photo, in which Kendrick Johnsons face is extremely swollen, almost does not look human. The next day, a teacher found his body inside one of the rolled-up wrestling mats. Indeed, when the mat was first unrolled, Johnson did have one arm stretched above his head and the other down around his waist as though struggling for his shoe. The findings of the second autopsy, that Johnsons death was not accidental and caused by blunt force trauma likely due to being struck in the neck with a 45lb dumbbell, were confirmed. The Suspicious Death of Kendrick Johnson.Plus many more disturbing stories.The stories in this Episodes are shocking and exhibit human behavior at its absolute worst. "[23], In August 2014, a $5 million lawsuit against Ebony magazine was filed, after the magazine published a series of articles naming two students as possible suspects in Johnson's death. These issues dont mean that someone will kill someone else, however. of foul play, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. News of the re-opened investigation was welcomed by Johnson's family. The late teen's parents, Kenneth and Jacquelyn Johnson, filed the lawsuit in January, claiming their son was the victim of foul play. Kendrick Johnsons shoe laying in the pool of blood. Thats the craziest lie you could have told, Johnson said of Paulks probe. [5], Johnson's family filed a $100 million civil lawsuit against 38 individuals, stating that his death was a murder and that the respondents were participants in a conspiracy to cover up the homicide, which they claimed involved two sons of an FBI agent. Anderson claimed that his findings indicated traces of blunt force trauma to the right neck and soft tissues, and suggested the death was not accidental. His parents believe Kendrick was murdered. Sheriff says case closed after his investigation finds Kendrick Johnsons death was no crime Jaqueline Johnson said she doesnt trust local authorities and wants federal investigators to take another look at what happened to her son here nine years ago. [6] That lawsuit was subsequently withdrawn. Johnson, 17, was found dead in Lowndes High School's gymnasium in January 2013. [21] Other missing footage was the result of the camera's motion-activated function not being triggered. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Lowndes County is in southern Georgia. The case was. The body was discovered by fellow students who had climbed up to the top of a cluster of mats, each of which stood nearly 6 feet (1.8m) tall and 3 feet (0.91m) wide. [39] He further stated that two brothers, named in previous legal actions by the Johnsons, are not suspects. Kendrick Johnson was a sports-loving, ball-playing high school student in Valdosta, Georgia until January 11, 2013, when he was found dead in his schools gymnasium. Essential, you asphyxiate (either by suffocation or lack of oxygen) due to the position of your bodya position in which you cant get yourself out. Video shows Johnson walking into and then through the gym on January 10, 2013. The group is. Time stamps between some separate camera systems differed by as much as twenty minutes for the same time period, giving the impression of a gap for portions of the footage where no gap existed. That students father is a retired FBI agent. The cameras which faced the mats were unfocussed and skipped around. The description of these brothers closely resembled that of Brian and Brandon Bell, who the magazine claimed had killed Kendrick because of a fight they had had over a year earlier which had escalated. As far as the feds were concerned, the case was officially and finally closed. Kendrick Johnson, photo from Medium.com Kendrick Johnson was a sports-loving, ball-playing high school student in Valdosta, Georgia until January 11, 2013, when he was found dead in his school's gymnasium. appreciated. [37] However, Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk stated that he would not be claiming there was something wrong with the original investigation or that the original investigation's conclusion of an accidental death was wrong. Not a big deal, perhaps, except, Another student had an issue with Kendrick and had threatened him several times over a girlfriend. [Featured image: Kendrick Johnson/Contributed], Life Without Parole: Convicted Kidnappers of Slain Toddler Kamille McKinney Sentenced, Squatter Charged With Murder of Missing Teen Farmer Dylan Rounds, Teen Who Rapped About Shooting Rival Gang Member in Back Charged with Murder. On October 31, 2013, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia announced that his office would open a formal review into Johnson's death. You are not on the team of righteousness., The family is raising $400,000 to benefit the Kendrick Johnson Foundations mission to raise awareness on the need for increased supervision and safety within our public schools. In their GoFundMe page post, Johnson writes, On January 10, 2013, Kendricks life was tragically cut short when he was discovered dead in a rolled-up gym mat, under highly suspicious circumstances., A subsequent autopsy conducted by our forensic pathologist subsequently confirmed our worst nightmare that our sons death was no accident, she continues.