CNNKendrick Johnsons shoe laying in the pool of blood. CrimeOnline has chosen not to publish the most graphic of those images. Horrified by what those photos depicted, they decided to post them on social media. 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. He was discovered rolled up in a gym mat on Friday 1/11. Meet The Damselfly, Your New Favorite Insect, Man Who Had Part Of His Brain Removed To Cure Him Of Seizures Says He No Longer Feels Fear, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. 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. All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. Lowndes County sheriff's investigators concluded that he died in a freak accident, falling headfirst into an upright mat. For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the Crime Stories with Nancy Grace podcast. Ill never let them forget, Jacquelyn told filmmakers. 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. UNDATED: Kendrick Johnson,17, was found dead inside his high school's gym. Harrington Funeral Home in Valdosta, which handled Johnson's body, referred calls to attorney Roy Copeland. Kendricks father, Kenneth Johnson, worked as a truck driver and was on the road when the teen vanished and was found dead. "[35][36], On March 10, 2021, the case was officially reopened. "It would've been during or immediately after the autopsy," he said. 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. [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. "It's unbearable, just about. While Jacquelyn may have been kept from her son to secure the scene and possible evidence, Pollock told CrimeOnline that Lowndes High School was not placed on lockdown the morning the teens body was found on campus. Images from the scene show Johnson lying in a pool of blood. UNDATED: Kendrick Johnson,17, was found dead inside his high school's 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. [14] On October 31, 2013, U.S. Attorney Michael J. Moore announced that his office would open a formal review into Johnson's death. Johnson was captured, killed, castrated and his body dragged for miles. We have buried kj 3 times and it felt like 3 funerals and i lost him 3 times.. Every organ from the pelvis to the skull was gone." cnn.com Gym mat death shocker: Body stuffed with newspaper | CNN 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. October 11, 2013 / 11:31 AM 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. FacebookKendrick Johnson with his mother. 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. The article used as a source an anonymous email to the sheriff's office. Credle, a veteran homicide detective from Washington, D.C., is referring to his work investigating the death of Kendrick Johnson, a 17-year-old boy who was found dead in a rolled-up wrestling mat at his Valdosta, Georgia, high school on January 11, 2013. 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. Kendrick Johnson was last seen 1:30pm Thursday 1/10. The brothers father, As Pollock explained to CrimeOnline, the bombshell evidence did not come from an anonymous source or undercover sleuthing it was plainly stated in the FBIs 2014 analysis report. He concluded the teenager died from blunt force trauma near his carotid artery and that the fatal blow appeared to be nonaccidental. 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. U.S. Attorney Michael Moore in Macon has been monitoring the case but has yet to announce whether he'll take any further action. The family, together with the NAACP and other civil rights activists, then held a rally at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta. Furthermore, a whole hour of footage from the gym was missing, right at the time which would have shed light on what happened that day. Finally, in March 2021, authorities reopened their investigation into Kendrick Johnsons death. While presenting the case to the public in October 2014, Lieutenant Stride Jones explained why they could not test every student. So what exactly did the Harrington Funeral Home do with Kendrick's organs and why was he stuffed with old newspaper? 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.. Over the years, the Johnsons have publicly implicated brothers Brian and Branden Bell in Kendricks death. [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. 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. It seemed possible that if Kendrick was trying to squeeze into the center of the mat, he could have scrunched his shoulders together to make himself narrower. in June 2016, citing insufficient evidence. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Medical examiners commonly remove internal organs during forensic autopsies. They also reported that the blood had likely been there for a long time. 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. GBI spokeswoman Sherry Lang said the agency stands by its original findings. 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. 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. Legal Statement. Nor had the president of the National Association of Medical Examiners, who said he's "never heard of this practice.". Kendrick vanished at Lowndes High School around 1:20 p.m. on January 10, 2013. Indeed, in 2013, racism in Valdosta, Georgia, was still very much alive. The three teens were classmates. [14] The governor's office released a statement indicating that they would await the report of the U.S. As Kendrick lay dead in the gym, the basketball and color guard teams held their night practices. "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. Moore did not immediately return a phone message Thursday. Investigators tested the blood which revealed that it did not belong to Kendrick Johnson. "Stuffing that newspaper in like he was a garbage can inside his body," Kendrick father said. The pathologist concluded his death was not an accident. 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. Crump said the Johnson family's legal team plans to focus on getting the official manner of death in the case changed from accidental to homicide. Listen to the latest episode: Join Nancy Grace for her new online video series designed to help you protect what you love most your children. 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. "[18] The Johnson family subsequently filed a civil lawsuit against the funeral home, seeking monetary damages. 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. During the film, Jacquelyn becomes so overwhelmed seeing the footage that she has to excuse herself, as Kenneth wipes tears from his eyes. Kenneth Johnson said. 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. Investigators claim that in the findings of the initial autopsy, Johnson's cause of death was ruled by accidental asphyxiation when he got stuck in the mat while trying to retrieve a shoe. [38] The sheriff also stated he does not consider the case to be a homicide. The Johnsons hired Doctor Bill Anderson to conduct an independent second autopsy. The three teens were classmates. 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. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Ive never seen a doctor rule on a theory without being able to present facts to me, Credle told CrimeOnline, claiming the medical examiner kicked him out of her office when he questioned her about her findings. [39] He further stated that two brothers, named in previous legal actions by the Johnsons, are not suspects. [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. 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. He said Johnson's organs were missing when the body arrived at Harrington. "We have been let down again, and when we buried Kendrick, we thought we were burying Kendrick, not half of Kendrick," father Kenneth Johnson said. "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. Johnson was a three-sport . He concluded the teenager died from blunt force trauma near his carotid artery and that the fatal blow appeared to be non-accidental. Despite this, the, Department of Justice closed the investigation. "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. [17] A spokesperson for the Secretary of State said that the investigation found that the funeral home "didn't violate any rules. 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. Just after 24 hours of being found, the investigators ruled Johnsons death an accident. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit told a story about a tragic death and unapproved organ harvesting on Wednesday night, and we think we found the real life story that inspired the case. State investigators say it's their normal practice, but what happened after his body arrived at the funeral home was anything but normal. The suit alleged that Johnson "was violently assaulted, severely injured, suffered great physical pain and mental anguish, and subjected to insult and loss of life" on January 10, 2013. But the Justice Department found insufficient evidence to support an investigation. But during a second autopsy, a private pathologist discovered Johnson's organs were missing and newspaper was used to replace them. 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. Im feeling hopeful.. [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." He was stuck upside down in the middle of a wrestling mat that had been rolled up and propped upright behind bleachers. 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. The teen's father, Kenneth Johnson, spoke about the missing organs during the rally. 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. School officials found Johnson's body in the gym after his parents reported him missing the night before. 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. Austin said Kendrick got the best of Brian. This 2018 autopsy concludes that the cause of death was "apparent non . 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. The fact that Brian didnt see KJ was a huge thing that they used for years against the Johnson family.. Kendrick Johnson was black and the Lowndes County Sheriff, Chris Prines, and his investigators were all white. The lawsuit alleged that the defendants were negligent and violated Johnson's constitutional right to equal protection based on race. I think it was just a look into it just to quiet down the family, quiet down some of the media, Credle told CrimeOnline. The only thing that wakes you up in the morning is to just keep pushing," said Jacquelyn Johnson. A Georgia Bureau of Investigation medical examiner concluded that he died from positional asphyxia, his body stuck in a position in which he couldn't breathe. (AP) SAVANNAH, Ga. - The parents of a Georgia teenager whose body was found inside a rolled-up wrestling mat at school . Investigators did not take the hoodie and orange and black gym shoes into evidence. [39] In January 2022, the second investigation was closed with no charges filed. Camera systems were motion-activated, using a change in light pixels to turn recordings on and off. Copeland said. [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. Its up to us to move the needle for KJ, because they are never going to do it down there.. The family was given photos of the scene and Kendricks body. Now the family has enlisted the help of Tallahassee, Fla.-based attorney Benjamin Crump. Bryants husband and brother-in-law were charged with ripping Till from his home, and fatally beating and shooting him. State and local officials ruled that Kendrick suffocated after purportedly reaching for a pair of sneakers inside the mat and getting stuck. I really dont. He said it was too soon to be more specific. He writes, in part: "his internal organs were destroyed through natural process and henceforth were discarded before the body was sent back to Valdosta.". School officials found Johnson's body in the gym after his parents reported him missing the night before. An inquest would present the evidence in Johnson's death in a public hearing, much like a trial. One of the coroners reports on Kendrick Johnsons autopsy. [17], Johnson's family requested that his body be exhumed for a second time and was granted permission by Valdosta city officials. 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