"[18] The Johnson family subsequently filed a civil lawsuit against the funeral home, seeking monetary damages. 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. 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 brought me in to make sure this is not able to be swept under the rug in small-town Georgia and they never get justice for their child.". 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. Inside Biden's new mortgage fee rules. 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. [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. [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. When the pathologist opened the teen's remains, "the brain, heart, lungs, liver and other viscera were missing. 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. 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. Indeed, in 2013, racism in Valdosta, Georgia, was still very much alive. Its up to us to move the needle for KJ, because they are never going to do it down there.. Kendrick Johnsons parents hoped that with the results of this third autopsy, the surveillance footage which they were convinced had been tampered with, and the mishandling of evidence at the scene, would be enough to reopen their sons case. For 11 of my 23 years, I worked cold cases. "[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. [23] It alleged that Johnson was attacked on a bus trip 14 months prior to his death. We have buried kj 3 times and it felt like 3 funerals and i lost him 3 times.. The death of 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson at the gymnasium of Lowndes High School in Valdosta, in the U.S. on January 11, 2013, was as bizarre as the subsequent findings. Pollock believed the evidence was so crucial that he flew to Georgia to show Kendricks parents. 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. 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. Johnsons father, however, admitted that he had no hard evidence to back up any of these claims and the Johnsons had to drop the suit. The body of Kendrick Johnson, 17, was found Jan. 11 in south Georgia, and Lowndes County sheriff's investigators concluded that he died in a freak accident - falling headfirst into an upright mat and becoming trapped. 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 only thing that wakes you up in the morning is to just keep pushing," said Jacquelyn Johnson. I don't know. [38] The sheriff also stated he does not consider the case to be a homicide. The Johnsons did try to sue the funeral home for mishandling their sons body, and perhaps having done so in order to cover up his true cause of death, but this case was dropped. 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. . 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. The Johnsons hoped for a coroners inquest, which would begin the process ofreclassifying the cause of Kendrick Johnsons death as non-accidental and reopening the investigation. Kendricks father, Kenneth Johnson, worked as a truck driver and was on the road when the teen vanished and was found dead. In comparison, the mat he was found in is 6 feet long and the opening was 14 inches. Kendrick Johnson lived with his family in Valdosta, Georgia and attended Lowndes High School. 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. 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. According to CNN, funeral director Antonio Harrington claimed the 17-year-olds organs were destroyed through [the] natural process due to the position of his body when he died. [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. His sneakers were shoved behind his knees. [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. [24] The magazine used pseudonyms but was otherwise accurate in descriptions of the boys, including the fact that their father was an FBI agent. Johnson's family discovered him to be missing his organs although the South Georgia Lowndes County Sheriff's investigation ruled Johnson's death a freak accident. While Brian told the media that he considered Kendrick a friend, Austin, another one of Johnsons friends, alleged that a year before his death, Brian and Kendrick had an altercation on the bus as they headed to a football game that was being played out of town. The familys attorney, Chevene King, expressed thatif Kendrick had been white, the case would have been handled differently. What Happened To Kendrick Johnson, The Teen Found Dead In Gym Mat In Then, read about the horrifying murder of Emmett Till. [12][16] Johnson's family filed a complaint with a regulatory body against the funeral home operator. "It's unbearable, just about. Nonetheless, the investigation cleared the funeral home of any wrongdoing. When rolled up, the mat left a 14-inch hole in diameter in the center. The second time, he was being pulled out of it. This article will explain the details of tongue anatomy and how each part contributes to its movements and to functions such as eating, taste . In comparison, the mat he was found in is 6 feet long and the opening was 14 inches. Through interviews, police documents, and forensic evidence, Finding Kendrick Johnson illustrates how a 17-year-olds disappearance and death sparked years worth of investigations, controversies, and a possible cover-up. 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[40], "Kendrick Johnson" redirects here. "But I don't think raising all this Cain down here is going to bring closure to them. 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. Nor had the president of the National Association of Medical Examiners, who said he's "never heard of this practice.". According to Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk, If theres questions and theyre legitimate I need to know the answers myself. Kendrick Johnson | Say Their Names - Spotlight at Stanford Just after 1pm, he entered the gym, never to come out alive. Under normal circumstances, the tongue is a pink, muscular organ located within the oral cavity proper. Every organ from the top of Kendrick's head to his pelvis was gone. Then without parent consent, a surgeon at the hospital harvested her organs . All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. The clothing he was wearing when he was found also was missing. And they admit, they're struggling. More from CNN at http://www.cnn.comTo lice. As Kendrick lay dead in the gym, the basketball and color guard teams held their night practices. 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. "[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. The article used as a source an anonymous email to the sheriff's office. 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. Students who did not want to pay for a locker reportedly used the mats to stow their personal items. His mother posted on her Facebook: No mother or father should ever have to bury their child under these circumstances. "We just can't allow this to happen again and again and again.". They also reported that the blood had likely been there for a long time. 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. 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 when he did return, he and his wife held a press conference begging authorities to not take their sons body out of Lowndes County before they saw it. 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. The Illegal Harvesting of Black Men's Organs is Going Unnoticed Kendrick missed his fourth-period class and did not come home from school, prompting his family to file a missing persons report that night. A hoodie and a pair of orange and black gym shoes were also found lying on the floor of the gym, as well as traces of blood on the wall nearby. Meanwhile, Pollock, who called for a federal probe, said he does not believe justice will find Kendricks case in Georgia. NY Daily News/Valdosta/Lowndes Regional Crime Labratory via CNN. [15], Johnson's family filed a legal action to open a coroner's inquest into his death. 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 county medical examiner concluded Johnson died of positional asphyxia and deemed his death accidental. 9 Mysterious Details About Kendrick Johnson's Death Despite this, the Department of Justice closed the investigation in June 2016, citing insufficient evidence. Kendrick's organs were never located. 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. 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. 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. The tongue's anatomy is complex; it involves interlacing muscles, nerves, and a blood supply. Kenneth also said lacerations and bruising to his sons face made him think Kendrick was in some sort of fight. [14] On October 31, 2013, U.S. Attorney Michael J. Moore announced that his office would open a formal review into Johnson's death. . He was discovered rolled up in a gym mat on Friday 1/11. 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. "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. Kendricks arm was nestled over his head, suggesting officials did not bother to lay his arms straight, the father said. 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. "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. Legal Statement. Kendrick Johnson's family was not able to perform a legitimate autopsy until June 2013. Hundreds Rally in Support of Kendrick Johnson's Family Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. In June, Kendrick's body was sent to Florida. The fact that Brian didnt see KJ was a huge thing that they used for years against the Johnson family.. [39] He further stated that two brothers, named in previous legal actions by the Johnsons, are not suspects. On June 22, 2018, Johnson's body was exhumed.[19]. 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. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. The family of 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson complained after the high school student's corpse was exhumed in June 2013 and investigators discovered newsprint in place of several vital organs . 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On May 8, 2013, a judge granted Kendrick Johnson's body be exhumed. He concluded the teenager died from blunt force trauma near his carotid artery and that the fatal blow appeared to be non-accidental. 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. 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. In addition to revisiting some of the more troubling aspects of the investigation into Kendricks suspicious death including the teens missing organs and unidentified blood splatter found near his body the documentary presents a damning piece of evidence that was never before made public: Surveillance stills showing the primary person of interest standing next to Kendrick before he vanished contradicting claims that he did not see Kendrick the day he vanished on campus. He was located in the left corner of the gym, in a rolled-up mat that was lying against a wall. Kendrick Johnson case: What happened to him and when did he die? "It would've been during or immediately after the autopsy," he said. Johnson's family asked the Justice Department to get involved, arguing that authorities failed to investigate Johnson's death thoroughly because he's black. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Harrington Funeral Home in Valdosta, which handled Johnson's body, referred calls to attorney Roy Copeland. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Found in a rolled-up gym mat, officials at Lowndes County High School in south Georgia concluded the athlete had been reaching for his sneaker when he fell headfirst into the mats. I think it was just a look into it just to quiet down the family, quiet down some of the media, Credle told CrimeOnline. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, 'Body Parts Are Missing': Newly-Released Footage of Kendrick Johnson's Moore did not immediately return a phone message Thursday. (CBS/AP) SAVANNAH, Ga. - The parents of a Georgia teenager whose body was found inside a rolled-up wrestling mat at school said Thursday the fact that their son was recently found to be buried without his internal organs is a new reason to suspect signs of foul play were covered by investigators. The attorney who helped push for a criminal prosecution in Trayvon Martin's shooting said Thursday that he's joining the fight to reopen an investigation into the death of a Georgia teenager whose body was found inside a rolled-up wrestling mat at school. [29], In November 2015, the Department of Justice filed a motion in the civil case to intervene and stay the case. Why The Accidental Death Of Kendrick Johnson Remains Suspicious To This Day. "It would've been during or immediately after the autopsy," he said. His parents also revealed that when Johnson's body was exhumed over the summer for a second autopsy, the private pathologist discovered his organs were missing and newspaper had been used to fill the body cavity. The mysterious death of Kendrick Johnson was initially ruled an accident by law enforcement, but his family was not convinced. [14] The governor's office released a statement indicating that they would await the report of the U.S. Some cases are left undetermined for years.. Lowndes County sheriff's investigators concluded that he died in a freak accident, falling headfirst into an upright mat. However, when Dr. Bill Anderson, the independent pathologist who performed Johnson's second autopsy,. But the Justice Department found insufficient evidence to support an investigation. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ", Neither had the founder of a national embalming academy, who said it's "not consistent with the standards of care" in the industry. 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. Similar to Kendricks mother, Tills mother, Mamie Till Mobley, wanted to call attention to what happened to her son, so she held an open-casket funeral and allowed Jet magazine to publish photographs of her childs disfigured and bloated corpse. I dont think theyre going to do anything. October 11, 2013 / 11:31 AM In a letter to the Johnsons' attorney, Harrington Funeral Home owner Antonio Harrington denies he received Kendrick's organs. [11] An autopsy by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) stated that Johnson had died from positional asphyxia,[12] and the case was ruled an accidental death by the Lowndes County investigators. The episode, entitled "Dare," sees a young girl tragically dying in a gymnasium. [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. U.S. Attorney Michael Moore in Macon has been monitoring the case but has yet to announce whether he'll take any further action. Kendricks mother, Jacquelyn Johnson, told filmmakers that she was on campus when her son was found, and police would not let her or Kendricks aunt see his body. [28] Shortly after receiving the case, Dettlebach also resigned. "We have an excellent team of medical examiners, and we stand by them 100 percent," Lang said. 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.
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