The Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) claimed that when the body was sent to the funeral home after the first autopsy, Johnsons organs had been put back inside the body. 2013 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. The tongue is a mobile, muscular organ that lies within the mouth and partly extends into the upper throat. But the teen's parents, Kenneth and Jacquelyn Johnson, hired Dr. William R. Anderson to provide a second opinion after a judge agreed in May to exhume the body. Kendrick Johnson was last seen 1:30pm Thursday 1/10. 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. Finally, in March 2021, authorities reopened their investigation into Kendrick Johnsons death. Some cases are left undetermined for years.. Kendrick Johnson, 17, was found dead and rolled up inside a high school gym mat back in 2013. 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. because the lungs fill with fluid, causing death. Sheriff Chris Prine has said he suspected Johnson became trapped trying to retrieve a shoe that fell into the center of the large, rolled mat. Under normal circumstances, the tongue is a pink, muscular organ located within the oral cavity proper. Then, in 2014, Kendrick Johnsons parents filed a wrongful death suit against the schools officials, alleging that Johnson had been harassed by a white student which went neglected by the school, perhaps due to his race. The lawsuit alleged that the defendants were negligent and violated Johnson's constitutional right to equal protection based on race. Paulk and his team were able to secure a wealth of evidence from federal authorities, in part thanks to an appeal from Johnsons family in November 2020. In November 2013, 290 hours of surveillance tape from 35 cameras that covered the gym area were released to CNN following a court request. This time, the autopsy revealed that Kendrick Johnson had suffered hemorrhaging on the right side of his neck, which meant that he likely died from blunt force trauma. [12][16] The funeral home that processed the body following the FBI's autopsy stated that they never received Johnson's internal organs from the coroner; the organs were said to have been "destroyed through natural process" and "discarded by the prosector before the body was sent back to Valdosta," according to the funeral home owner. As he was upside down, blood would have rushed to Johnsons head and he eventually would have begun to bleed from his facial orifices. On January 11, 2013, the body of Kendrick Johnson (October 10, 1995 January 10, 2013) was discovered inside a vertical rolled-up mat in the gymnasium of Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia, United States, where he was a student. Anatomy. 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. But Johnsons parents would still not give up. [39] In January 2022, the second investigation was closed with no charges filed. Johnson's parents hope the outcome would be to change the manner of death listed on his death certificate from accidental to homicide -- paving the way to reopen a criminal investigation. [26] All local Superior Court judges recused themselves from presiding over the case, preventing the lawsuit from being filed and heard in Lowndes County, citing their close proximity to the accused. Over the years, the Johnsons have publicly implicated brothers Brian and Branden Bell in Kendricks death. State and local law enforcement officials ruled the death an accidental. But Lowndes County Coroner Bill Watson said many of Johnson's organs were deemed too badly decomposed to be preserved and had to be disposed of before the body was sent to the funeral home. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. 1. State and local officials ruled that Kendrick suffocated after purportedly reaching for a pair of sneakers inside the mat and getting stuck. Kendrick Johnson's Family's Quest For Answers Moves To Georgia Capitol", "National Civil Rights Attorney No Longer Involved In Kendrick Johnson Case | Valdosta Today", "Kendrick Johnson family holds rally after filing complaint about missing organs", "Parents of Georgia teen found dead in gym mat sue funeral home", "No Wrongdoing Detected in Kendrick Johnson Funeral Home Probe", "Kendrick Johnson footage released; expert finds it 'highly suspicious', "Rose, Touchton believe no coverup in Johnson case", "Georgia school officials sued in Kendrick Johnson's gym death", "Local, federal investigations into gym mat death continue", "FBI agent, wife file $5 million defamation suit against Ebony.com and crime writer for KJ stories", "Parents File $100 Million Suit in Gym-Mat Death of Georgia Teen Kendrick Johnson", "Second U.S. Attorney in charge of KJ case resigns", "Kendrick Johnson probe: Attorney exits mark shift", "KJ Family Drops $100 Million Wrongful Death Suit | Valdosta Today", "US Justice Department: No criminal charges in gym mat death", "Judge: Parents owe $292,000 for suit in son's gym mat death", "Investigation into death of Georgia teen found in a rolled-up gym mat 8 years ago will be reopened", "Georgia sheriff vows to personally, thoroughly investigate re-opened case of teen found dead in gym mat", "Sheriff reopens Kendrick Johnson case in Valdosta", "A second local investigation into the death of a Georgia teen found in a rolled-up gym mat has closed with no charges filed", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Death_of_Kendrick_Johnson&oldid=1143606101. As Kendrick lay dead in the gym, the basketball and color guard teams held their night practices. 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. The brothers father, Rick Bell, was an FBI special agent who ultimately resigned after his home was raided and searched for evidence, according to NBC. He was stuck upside down in the middle of a wrestling mat that had been rolled up and propped upright behind bleachers. [12], A subsequent investigation by the Georgia Secretary of State's office found that the funeral home did not follow "best practice" and that other material was "more acceptable than newspaper." [38] The sheriff also stated he does not consider the case to be a homicide. This 2018 autopsy concludes that the cause of death was "apparent non . In 2007, Bryant allegedly revealed to. CNN gained access to the schools security footage on the day that Kendrick Johnson was killed, but upon viewing it, realized that it offered little insight into what happened that day. When authorities ruled Kendrick's death accidental, theorizing he had fallen into the opening at the center of the mat and suffocated, the Johnsons conducted an independent autopsy of their own,. In that autopsy, Anderson told the Johnsons he'd found evidence that Kendrick died as the result of a blow to the neck, and not accidental asphyxia after slipping into a rolled gym mat at school as investigators in Georgia had said. During the film, Jacquelyn becomes so overwhelmed seeing the footage that she has to excuse herself, as Kenneth wipes tears from his eyes. But Johnson's family believes he was killed and has been pressuring authorities into taking a second look at the case. Sheriff Chris Prine has said he suspected Johnson became trapped trying to retrieve a shoe that fell into the center of the large, rolled mat. in June 2016, citing insufficient evidence. [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. 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Two entities had custody of Kendrick's body and access to his organs the first time he was buried: the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which conducted the first autopsy in January, and Harrington Funeral Home, which the Johnsons chose to embalm and prepare Kendrick's body for burial, days later. So what exactly did the Harrington Funeral Home do with Kendrick's organs and why was he stuffed with old newspaper? He was stuck upside down in the middle of a wrestling mat that had been rolled up and propped upright behind bleachers. In May of 1918, a Black farmworker named Sidney Johnson, tired of mistreatment, killed his white boss. He said Johnson's organs were missing when the body arrived at Harrington. That's what happened in Johnson's case, she said. I Googled stuff, he said. Despite this, the Department of Justice closed the investigation in June 2016, citing insufficient evidence. Watson said he reviewed the second autopsy report on Johnson, but found it vague and lacking the specifics of the GBI's findings. [23] It alleged that Johnson was attacked on a bus trip 14 months prior to his death. "When you think about it logically, it seems to be some kind of conspiracy to conceal the truth about what happened to Kendrick and who did it to him," Crump said. It's another disappointing answer for parents determined to know what happened to their son before and now after his death. Two entities had custody of Kendrick Johnson's body after his death - the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which conducted the first autopsy in January; and the Harrington Funeral Home in. "I'm terribly sorry for the family," Watson said. Attorney. Kendrick Johnsons parents released a photo to the media of their sons face as he lay in the funeral home. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. The parents asserted that the sons of the FBI agent killed Johnson and used their connections to cover up the investigation. School officials found Johnson's body in the gym after his parents reported him missing the night before. In an autopsy, organs are removed and examined before being returned to the body for burial. But during a second autopsy, a private pathologist discovered Johnson's organs were missing and newspaper was used to replace them. [12] The funeral home owner stated that it is standard practice to fill a void in this fashion, and that cotton or sawdust may also be employed for this purpose. He also stated the funeral home never had Johnsons organs, saying they were discarded by the prosecutor before the body was sent back to Valdosta for burial. But Johnsons parents felt that his death was not being taken seriously, in part because of his race, or because a larger cover-up was at play. The Johnsons hired Doctor Bill Anderson to conduct an independent second autopsy. R.I.P Kendrick Johnson FacebookOne of the coroners reports on Kendrick Johnsons autopsy. Asked how he planned to do that, Crump said, "We're going to have to look at getting the courts involved." Finding Kendrick Johnson presents police documents that state that Kendrick is 5 feet, 10 inches tall and his shoulders measured 19 inches. Thats another red flag.. A Georgia sheriff's office is reopening an investigation into the 2013 death of Kendrick Johnson, a Black teenager whose body was found inside a rolled-up gym mat in his high school . UNDATED: Kendrick Johnson,17, was found dead inside his high school's gym. After autopsies, those organs are typically sealed in a plastic bag and placed back in the body, said Vernie Fountain, who runs an embalming school in Springfield, Mo. [26] Jim Elliott, the Lowndes County Attorney, stated that the allegations were "unfounded" and "baseless" and that any response would be made in court. For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the Crime Stories with Nancy Grace podcast. Watson said he reviewed the second autopsy report on Johnson, but found it vague and lacking the specifics of the GBI's findings. "When you think about it logically, it seems to be some kind of conspiracy to conceal the truth about what happened to Kendrick and who did it to him," Crump said. He said Johnson's organs were missing when the body arrived at Harrington. The mat was positioned upright. Both independent autopsy reports determined the 17-year-old died of non-accidental blunt force trauma inconsistent with the positional asphyxia determination made by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. NY Daily News/Valdosta/Lowndes Regional Crime Labratory via CNNKendrick Johnsons body rolled up inside the gym mat with his shoes behind his knees. Copyright 2023 WLS-TV. "[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. His son, 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson, was dead. In 2007, Bryant allegedly revealed to The Blood of Emmett Till author Timothy Tyson that she lied about the sexual harassment that prompted Tills murder. Images from the scene show Johnson lying in a pool of blood. Kendricks photos drew wide comparisons to Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Black boy from Chicago who was murdered in 1955 in Money, Mississippi, after a 21-year-old white woman named Carolyn Bryant accused him of making ugly remarks and whistling at her. On June 22, 2018, Johnson's body was exhumed.[19]. "The question is, why didn't he tell us?" Johnsons parents finally believed that their sons death was not being taken seriously because of his race. The pathologist concluded his death was not an accident. "This can happen to any of our kids," said Kenneth Johnson, the teenager's father. But the Justice Department found insufficient evidence to support an investigation. On May 8, 2013, a judge granted Kendrick Johnson's body be exhumed. Local newspaper Valdosta Today reported that those children claimed, when questioned by police, that they. "I'm not sure at this point who did not return the organs to the body, but I know when we got the body, the organs were not there," Anderson said. Johnson's organs appeared to be missing from his body, according to an autopsy. The Johnsons were also sure that their sons body had been moved, which was corroborated by Lowndes County Coroner, Bill Watson. He was never shown within or leaving the gym and indeed, he never did show up for his following classes. The fact that Brian didnt see KJ was a huge thing that they used for years against the Johnson family.. [12][16] Johnson's family filed a complaint with a regulatory body against the funeral home operator. The pathologist concluded the teenager had died from blunt force trauma near his carotid artery and that the fatal blow appeared to be "non-accidental.". The photo, in which Kendrick Johnsons face is extremely swollen, almost does not look human. Sheriff Chris Prine has said he suspected Johnson became trapped while trying to retrieve a shoe that fell into the center of the large rolled mat. [12], The independent autopsy found that some time after Johnson's body was recovered from the mat and had passed through a funeral home, it had been stuffed with newspapers. Body parts are missing, evidence is missing. Meanwhile, Pollock, who called for a federal probe, said he does not believe justice will find Kendricks case in Georgia. READ: CrimeOnlines continuing coverage of the Kendrick Johnson case. The 17-year-old was a well-liked honor roll student, an athlete, and his parents said he always helped out at home. Copeland said. Johnsons parents were suspicious of the investigation from the beginning. However, when Dr. Bill Anderson, the independent pathologist who performed Johnson's second autopsy,. Benjamin Crump, the lawyer who helped focus national attention on the 2012 shooting death of Martin by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, said the discovery raises questions about why Johnson's organs went missing and couldn't be examined in the follow-up autopsy the family requested. While the FBI concluded in 2016 that the Bells were in different areas of the school when Kendrick entered the gym, Pollock claimed the agencys own 2014 analysis report cites surveillance stills that show Brian in the hallway with Kendrick before he died. Anderson's report said he detected hemorrhaging on the right side of Johnson's neck. [2][13], After the opinion of the private pathologist was released, Johnson's family stated that they believed Johnson had been murdered. I really dont. All rights reserved. Legal Statement. GBI spokeswoman Sherry Lang told CNN that after the autopsy, "the organs were placed in Johnson's . [30] After the Justice Department's motion was denied, Johnson's parents dismissed their own wrongful death lawsuit, saying that they hoped to refile it after the conclusion of the federal investigation. "This is a real-life murder mystery where these parents sent their child to school with a book bag and he was returned to them in a body bag," Crump said in a phone interview. Seventeen-year-old Kendrick Johnsons body was inexplicably found upside-down in a rolled-up gym mat in 2013. Kenneth Johnson said. All rights reserved. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. But the Justice Department found insufficient evidence to support an investigation. [28] Shortly after receiving the case, Dettlebach also resigned. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. [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. [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. Austin said Brian pulled Kendricks locs and held his head down, prompting the fight. "[26] After Moore resigned in 2015,[27] the case was transferred to the Northern District of Ohio under U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach. 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. [6] That lawsuit was subsequently withdrawn. Regardless, the organs were lost and could not be tested during the second autopsy, which further aroused suspicions in Johnsons parents that this was a cover-up. Now the family has enlisted the help of Tallahassee, Fla.-based attorney Benjamin Crump. "Those organs were in the body when we sent it back to the funeral home," said Lang, who added that the GBI stands by the conclusions of its autopsy that found no foul play involved. "Stuffing that newspaper in like he was a garbage can inside his body," Kendrick father said. Johnson's family said Anderson also revealed that most of his internal organs were missing and the body cavity was filled with newspaper. [39] He further stated that two brothers, named in previous legal actions by the Johnsons, are not suspects. In their lawsuit, the parents of the accused boys assert that their sons were not involved in the death, are not considered suspects, and have been harassed as a result of the publication. [2] That left a void, which the funeral home filled. Finding Kendrick Johnson makes the claim that the 17-year-olds killer has been in plain sight all these years with an alibi that had already been refuted by federal investigators. Those organs were in the body when we sent it back to the funeral home, an agency spokesperson said. [14] On October 31, 2013, U.S. Attorney Michael J. Moore announced that his office would open a formal review into Johnson's death. Meanwhile, Johnson's parents are preparing to file a lawsuit asking a judge to order a coroner's inquest in their son's death, said Chevene King, an attorney working with the family. organ, in music, a keyboard instrument, operated by the player's hands and feet, in which pressurized air produces notes through a series of pipes organized in scalelike rows. "[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. CrimeOnline has chosen not to publish the most graphic of those images. A private pathologist was hired to carry out a second autopsy. Though Paulk said the investigation may take up to six months, both he and the Johnson family are optimistic that justice will finally be served. [22], Johnson's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Lowndes County Board of Education, its superintendent and the principal of Lowndes High School. I don't know. The town of Valdosta, Ga., witnessed, on Jan. 10, the kind of militant protest march that characterizes the "Black Lives Matter" movement across the country. Finding Kendrick Johnson is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Google Play. "It would've been during or immediately after the autopsy," he said. "We have an excellent team of medical examiners, and we stand by them 100 percent," Lang said. Credle is also shown the report and says he also has never been seen this footage despite being the federal investigator reviewing Kendricks case. SAVANNAH, Ga. The parents of a Georgia teenager whose body was found inside a rolled-up wrestling mat at school said Thursday that they have a new reason to suspect signs of foul play were covered by investigators -- their son was buried without his internal organs. He said it was too soon to be more specific. Kendrick Johnson, 17, was found dead and rolled up inside a high school gym mat back in 2013. . 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. Kendrick reportedly walked away from Rick, who has denied this encounter ever transpired. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, But Lowndes County Coroner Bill Watson said many of Johnson's organs were deemed too badly decomposed to be preserved and had to be disposed of before the body was sent to the funeral home. Johnson was captured, killed, castrated and his body dragged for miles. [21] Other missing footage was the result of the camera's motion-activated function not being triggered. His sneakers were shoved behind his knees. The three teens were classmates. However, his family believes he was murdered by schoolmates and . An investigation into the death of Kendrick Johnson, the Georgia teenager found dead in a rolled-up gym mat eight years ago, has been reopened, according to Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk.. In 2015, the Johnsons filed a $100 million civil lawsuit against 38 people, including three of their sons classmates, the school, the local crime lab, state and federal officials, five agents of the GBI, an FBI agent, and more. Some even drew comparisons to the death of Kendrick Johnson, the Georgia high school athlete whose suspicious 2013 death was ruled an accident, despite his family's demand for further investigation. For 11 of my 23 years, I worked cold cases. "But I don't think raising all this Cain down here is going to bring closure to them. Kendricks parents had his body exhumed in June 2013 and June 2018 for further examination. [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. The teenager's family announced Thursday that the Florida lawyer who helped push for a criminal prosecution in the shooting of Trayvon Martin has joined efforts to reopen an investigation into Johnson's death. Its not Kendricks blood, now we do not know whose blood it is. "When we got the body for the second autopsy, the organs - the heart, lungs, liver etc. This article will explain the details of tongue anatomy and how each part contributes to its movements and to functions such as eating, taste . One of the coroners reports on Kendrick Johnsons autopsy. Meanwhile, Johnson's parents are preparing to file a lawsuit asking a judge to order a coroner's inquest in their son's death, said Chevene King, an attorney working with the family. All that could be seen from the cameras was Kendrick Johnson walking towards the gym, and then several seconds of footage of him jogging within the gym. The lawsuit alleged that the FBI agent ordered his two sons and a classmate to attack Johnson, that his death was a murder, and that the respondents engaged in a conspiracy to cover up the homicide. Nor had the president of the National Association of Medical Examiners, who said he's "never heard of this practice.". The crowd of city residents and out-of-town supporters, including several youth activists from #ItsBiggerThanYou, came to demand justice for Kendrick Johnson. Georgia state law dictates that the coroner be contacted immediately on the discovery of a body, but Watson claimed that he was not notified until six hours later. "I feel outraged about them stuffing my son's body with newspaper," Jaquelyn Johnson said. It does appear, however, that their quest for answers has only led to more questions. In June 2016, the Department of Justice announced no charges would be filed against anyone in relation to Kendrick Johnsons death, considering there was insufficient evidence to support federal criminal charges.. [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. Austin said Kendrick got the best of Brian. Kendricks arm was nestled over his head, suggesting officials did not bother to lay his arms straight, the father said. UNDATED: Kendrick Johnson,17, was found dead inside his high school's gym. In June, Kendrick's body was sent to Florida. The cameras which faced the mats were unfocussed and skipped around. However, Pollock said Kendricks lungs post mortem were a normal weight for a boy his age and size. Ill never let them forget, Jacquelyn told filmmakers. Credle was called in after several local authorities recused themselves from the case which many believe was due to the primary persons of interest being the sons of an FBI agent. Kendrick missed his fourth-period class and did not come home from school, prompting his family to file a missing persons report that night. Kendrick Johnson's family was not able to perform a legitimate autopsy until June 2013. A pair of Nike shoes was found in the mat with Kendrick, and one black and white Adidas shoe was found near Kendrick in a pool of blood.

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