On May 8, 2013, a judge granted Kendrick Johnson's body be exhumed. Over the years, the Johnsons have publicly implicated brothers Brian and Branden Bell in Kendricks death. When organs are missing, such as in cases involving organ donors, space inside the body cavity often is filled with an absorbent, preservative powder, Fountain said. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Some cases are left undetermined for years.. 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. UNDATED: Kendrick Johnson,17, was found dead inside his high school's gym. The suit also alleged that school officials failed to "properly monitor the activities of students throughout all areas" of the campus and to "maintain a properly functioning video surveillance system. 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. Johnson's family said Anderson also revealed that most of his internal organs were missing and the body cavity was filled with newspaper. Johnson's family asked the Justice Department to get involved, arguing that authorities failed to investigate Johnson's death thoroughly because he's black. But a judge agreed in May to exhume the body, and Kenneth and Jacquelyn Johnson hired Dr. William R. Anderson to provide a second opinion. Attorneys for the Johnson family expressed fears that the camera footage was edited as part of a cover-up. Updated: 12:46 AM EST March 10, 2021 JACKSONVILLE, Fla The Lowndes County Sheriff's Office announced Friday that it has reopened the investigation into the death of Kendrick Johnson, whose. Anatomy. 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. But those dreams were cut short when his body was found by students entering the gymnasium rolled up in a standing gym mat. [17] A spokesperson for the Secretary of State said that the investigation found that the funeral home "didn't violate any rules. 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. 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. Finally, it confirms that Kendrick Johnson's organs were removed and replaced with newspaper for the purpose of concealing time of death and revealing further, fatal injuries. Kendrick Johnson Death: Missing organs are reason to suspect foul play NY Daily News/Valdosta/Lowndes Regional Crime Labratory via CNN. The second time, he was being pulled out of it. Just after 1pm, he entered the gym, never to come out alive. [21] Other missing footage was the result of the camera's motion-activated function not being triggered. "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. State investigators say it's their normal practice, but what happened after his body arrived at the funeral home was anything but normal. [Featured image: Nikkolas Smith/Millennial PR], North Carolina Cop, Wife Found Shot Dead in Fayetteville Home, We Have Zero Leads: $80,000 Reward Offered for Information Leading to Man Who Gunned Down Texas Family, Missing: 18-Year-Old Mom Takes Toddler Son From Dads During Supervised Visit. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. School officials found Johnson's body in the gym after his parents reported him missing the night before. ", Neither had the founder of a national embalming academy, who said it's "not consistent with the standards of care" in the industry. Well, a lot of people ask why didnt you test everyone at the school? Well, number one, we dont have a legal basis, number two, youre talking about testing 3,000 people, he said. A private pathologist was hired to carry out a second autopsy. 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. After three autopsies and an accidental death ruling, Kendrick Johnson Jelani Day's Body Was Not Missing Brain and Vital Organs, Mother Says As a result of this new evidence, Matthew Moore, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, announced a formal review of the 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. School officials found Johnson's body in the gym after his parents reported him missing the night before. 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. 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. Despite these resignations, the Department of Justice investigation continued. 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. "But I don't think raising all this Cain down here is going to bring closure to them. State and local law enforcement officials ruled the death an accidental. Pollock believed the evidence was so crucial that he flew to Georgia to show Kendricks parents. For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the Crime Stories with Nancy Grace podcast. On top of this, the second autopsy revealed that some of Johnsons organs were missing and in their place, his body had been stuffed with newspaper. "[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. More from CNN at http://www.cnn.comTo lice. CrimeOnline has chosen not to publish the most graphic of those images. In addition to the photos in the FBI report, the document also included a ledger that specifically said Kendrick and Brian were standing next to each other in the hallway the morning Kendrick died. Police said a bloody tissue was found in the girls bathroom near the gym was also tested and did not match the blood discovered near Kendricks body, according to Valdosta Today. Austin said Kendrick got the best of Brian. But Johnson's family believes he was killed and has been pressuring authorities into taking a second look at the case. They said they later tested the blood and it was not a match for Kendrick, but it remains unclear who it belongs to. His son, 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson, was dead. "We just can't allow this to happen again and again and again.". R.I.P Kendrick Johnson FacebookOne of the coroners reports on Kendrick Johnsons autopsy. 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.. Kendrick reportedly walked away from Rick, who has denied this encounter ever transpired. What Happened To Kendrick Johnson, The Teen Found Dead In Gym Mat In "There may not be any law that prohibits it. [25], In January 2015, Johnson's family filed a $100 million civil lawsuit in the Superior Court of DeKalb County against 38 individuals. 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. Months later, the pair admitted to mutilating and killing Till in a magazine interview they were paid $3,000 for. The term organ encompasses reed organs and electronic organs but, unless otherwise specified, is usually understood to refer to pipe organs. However, Pollock said Kendricks lungs post mortem were a normal weight for a boy his age and size. The clothing he was wearing when he was found also was missing. His body was exhumed twice for a third autopsy, Kendrick Johnson the 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. Kendrick's organs were never located. 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. But Johnson's family believes he was killed and has been pressuring authorities into taking a second look at the case. Moore did not immediately return a phone message Thursday. The funeral home said that it received the body without organs which it replaced with paper or sawdust as is common practice while embalming. He was stuck upside down in the middle of a wrestling mat that had been rolled up and propped upright behind bleachers. In a letter to the Johnsons' attorney, Harrington Funeral Home owner Antonio Harrington denies he received Kendrick's organs. The Georgia secretary of state's office, which regulates funeral homes in the states, is investigating how Johnson's body was handled, spokesman Jared Thomas said. 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. The familys attorney, Chevene King, expressed thatif Kendrick had been white, the case would have been handled differently. He writes, in part: "his internal organs were destroyed through natural process and henceforth were discarded before the body was sent back to Valdosta.". This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, 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. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Sometimes cotton is used with powder. We have buried kj 3 times and it felt like 3 funerals and i lost him 3 times.. But the Justice Department found insufficient evidence to support an investigation. All rights reserved. Local newspaper Valdosta Today reported that those children claimed, when questioned by police, that theynever saw or heard Kendrick in the gym. After this sad look at the case and death of Kendrick Johnson, read up on another mysterious disappearance, that of Elisa Lam. "I'd never heard of that before, never. 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. Investigation into Georgia teen found dead in gym mat is closed without His family and friends described him as a sweet and quiet boy. Kendricks first exhumation was met with controversy; when it was revealed that every organ from his pelvis to his skull, including his brain, heart, lungs, and liver, was gone and replaced with newspaper. Finally, in March 2021, authorities reopened their investigation into Kendrick Johnsons death. As far as the feds were concerned, the case was officially and finally closed. He said Johnson's organs were missing when the body arrived at Harrington. Investigators did not take the hoodie and orange and black gym shoes into evidence. One of Kendricks close friends and classmates, Malik Austin, explained in the documentary that the students did not lean into the mat to retrieve their shoes; they tilted the mat to release the shoes. Justice for Kendrick Johnson! "We have an excellent team of medical examiners, and we stand by them 100 percent," Lang said. That's what happened in Johnson's case, she said. A shoe found on top of a pool of blood near Kendricks body [Image: Lowndes Regional Crime Laboratory]Finding Kendrick Johnson presents police documents that state that Kendrick is 5 feet, 10 inches tall and his shoulders measured 19 inches. Kendrick missed his fourth-period class and did not come home from school, prompting his family to file a missing persons report that night. Harrington Funeral Home in Valdosta, which handled Johnson's body, referred calls to attorney Roy Copeland. He was never shown within or leaving the gym and indeed, he never did show up for his following classes. Though surveillance cameras were located all over campus, the last footage of Kendrick shows him walking into the gym behind other students before going out of frame. Kendrick Johnson video analysis: part 1 The family didn't even know the late teen's brain, heart, lungs, liver and other viscera were missing until the middle of last year, when an autopsy. / CBS News. 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. 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. The three teens were classmates. [29], In November 2015, the Department of Justice filed a motion in the civil case to intervene and stay the case. Those organs were in the body when we sent it back to the funeral home, an agency spokesperson said. Investigators tested the blood which revealed that it did not belong to Kendrick Johnson. Hundreds Rally in Support of Kendrick Johnson's Family 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. Family: Ga. teen's organs replaced with newspaper - USA Today In June 2018, Kendrick Johnsons body was exhumed for a second time and a third autopsy was performed. Credle along with Kendricks parents, relatives, and friends recounted their experiences for Finding Kendrick Johnson, a new documentary that is available on various streaming platforms, including Amazon Prime Video and Google Play. 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. "This can happen to any of our kids," said Kenneth Johnson, the teenager's father. Johnsons shoulders measured 19 across and he was five feet, ten inches tall. The photo, in which Kendrick Johnsons face is extremely swollen, almost does not look human. The initial autopsy revealed that Johnson died due to positional asphyxia or that he suffocated as a result of being stuck upside-down in an enclosed space for an extended period of time. We have buried kj 3 times and it felt like 3 funerals and i lost him 3 times.. Finding Kendrick Johnson presents police documents that state that Kendrick is 5 feet, 10 inches tall and his shoulders measured 19 inches. Austin said Brian pulled Kendricks locs and held his head down, prompting the fight. 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. 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. 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. "But I don't think raising all this Cain down here is going to bring closure to them. Kendrick Johnson death investigation will be reopened, Georgia sheriff However, his family believes he was murdered by schoolmates and . 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. This article will explain the details of tongue anatomy and how each part contributes to its movements and to functions such as eating, taste . Kenneth said within an hour and a half of that conference authorities called him and said he could see Kendricks body at the local Crime Lab. Kendrick Johnson's family was not able to perform a legitimate autopsy until June 2013. Through interviews, police documents, and forensic evidence, Finding Kendrick Johnson illustrates how a 17-year-old boys disappearance and death sparked years worth of investigations, controversies, and a possible cover-up. Adding to the confusion is the fact that in October 2013, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation told CBS that Kendricks organs were returned to his body following the autopsy, as per protocol. For 11 of my 23 years, I worked cold cases. [20] A forensic analyst enlisted by CNN found that tapes from two cameras are missing an hour and five minutes of footage, while another set was missing two hours and ten minutes of footage. Kendricks father, Kenneth Johnson, worked as a truck driver and was on the road when the teen vanished and was found dead. 1. The body of Kendrick Johnson, 17, was found Jan. 11 in South Georgia. Georgia: Nothing illegal in filling dead youth's body with newspaper - CNN Johnson's family said Anderson also revealed that most of his internal organs were missing and the body cavity was filled with newspaper. because the lungs fill with fluid, causing death. They saw that report in 2014, they saw that photograph of the boys standing next to each other and they let the Bells go television and say they hadnt seen KJ, Pollock told CrimeOnline. Kendrick Johnson case: What happened to him and when did he die? Kendrick Johnson 's body was found in a wrestling mat Jan. 11, 2013, in the Lowndes High School gym in Valdosta, Georgia. That's what happened in Johnson's case, she said. Inside Biden's new mortgage fee rules. Johnson was a three-sport . [2][13], After the opinion of the private pathologist was released, Johnson's family stated that they believed Johnson had been murdered. Despite his death being ruled accidental, Lowndes County police initially said they did not immediately test some blood splatter located 40 feet from Kendricks body. 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. Brian had told local media in numerous interviews that he had not seen Kendrick on the day he vanished. The Illegal Harvesting of Black Men's Organs is Going Unnoticed The mat in which Johnson was found was around six feet tall. [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." "I don't think I've ever talked to anyone who told me they've used old newspapers," Fountain said. He concluded the teenager died from blunt force trauma near his carotid artery and that the fatal blow appeared to be non-accidental. In the documentary, Kendricks parents claimed Lowndes County police barred them from seeing his body for three days. 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. The pathologist concluded his death was not an accident. Kendrick Johnson In Savannah, Georgia 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson's body was uncovered January 11, 2013, inside of a rolled up wrestling mat . They were sued for more than $850,000 in attorney fees and more than one million in defamation charges. [11] A student at the school said that he shared a pair of Adidas shoes with Johnson, and that after gym class Johnson would always "go to the mats, jump up and toss the shoes inside the middle of the hole.
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