The private pathologist performed his own autopsy in June and presented a four-page report of his findings Aug. 15. U.S. Attorney Michael Moore in Macon has been monitoring the case but has yet to announce whether he'll take any further action. Attorneys for the Johnson family expressed fears that the camera footage was edited as part of a cover-up. Johnson's family asked the Justice Department to get involved, arguing that authorities failed to investigate Johnson's death thoroughly because he's black. All rights reserved. In June 2018, Kendrick Johnsons body was exhumed for a second time and a third autopsy was performed. But the Justice Department found insufficient evidence to support an investigation. Sometimes cotton is used with powder. Lowndes County sheriff's investigators concluded that he died in a freak accident, falling headfirst into an upright mat and becoming trapped. Nor had the president of the National Association of Medical Examiners, who said he's "never heard of this practice.". It alleged that the defendants ignored reports that, previously, Johnson had been repeatedly attacked and harassed by a white student. GBI spokeswoman Sherry Lang said the agency stands by its original findings. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. So what exactly did the Harrington Funeral Home do with Kendrick's organs and why was he stuffed with old newspaper? He also said standard embalming practice is to fill empty space in body cavities with material such as sawdust or cotton. FacebookKendrick Johnson with his mother. 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. 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. [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. Its not Kendricks blood, now we do not know whose blood it is. 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. "It's unbearable, just about. Im feeling hopeful.. Harrington Funeral Home in Valdosta, which handled Johnson's body, referred calls to attorney Roy Copeland. The only way Im going to know is to look at the evidence myself.. 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. Legal Statement. Adding to the confusion is the fact that in October 2013, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation told CBS that Kendrick's organs were returned to his body following the autopsy, as per protocol. His mother posted on her Facebook: No mother or father should ever have to bury their child under these circumstances. [14] The governor's office released a statement indicating that they would await the report of the U.S. Moore did not immediately return a phone message Thursday. Kendricks father was shocked by his sons disfigured body. CNN's Victor Blackwell investigates what happened to Kendrick Johnson's missing organs after his mysterious 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. The first time Jacquelyn Johnson cried next to her son Kendrick's grave, he was being lowered into the ground. [17], Johnson's family requested that his body be exhumed for a second time and was granted permission by Valdosta city officials. [28] Shortly after receiving the case, Dettlebach also resigned. Kendrick Johnson was last seen 1:30pm Thursday 1/10. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Just after 24 hours of being found, the investigators ruled Johnsons death an accident. "[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 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. Brian had told local media in numerous interviews that he had not seen Kendrick on the day he vanished. However, Pollock said Kendricks lungs post mortem were a normal weight for a boy his age and size. Pollock said, Its up to the national pressure. Moore did not immediately return a phone message Thursday. [39] In January 2022, the second investigation was closed with no charges filed. in June 2016, citing insufficient evidence. 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. In comparison, the mat he was found in is 6 feet long and the opening was 14 inches. Austin said Kendrick got the best of Brian. The body of Kendrick Johnson, 17, was found Jan. 11 in south Georgia. "There may not be any law that prohibits it. 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. 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. All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. Over the years, the Johnsons have publicly implicated brothers Brian and Branden Bell in Kendricks death. However, the coroner said these organs were not sent to the funeral home because they were too decomposed and were instead disposed of beforehand. Copeland said. "Is newspaper necessarily more indicting that sawdust or cotton?" 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. 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. When the pathologist opened the teen's remains, "the brain, heart, lungs, liver and other viscera were missing. "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. 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. The 17-year-old was a well-liked honor roll student, an athlete, and his parents said he always helped out at home. 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 . Despite these resignations, the Department of Justice investigation continued. [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. However, Pollock said Kendricks lungs post mortem were a normal weight for a boy his age and size. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. "I'd never heard of that before, never. Johnson's family said Anderson also revealed that most of his internal organs were missing and the body cavity was filled with newspaper. But the Justice Department found insufficient evidence to support an investigation. The lawsuit alleged that the defendants were negligent and violated Johnson's constitutional right to equal protection based on race. Doctor Anderson has pictures of Kendrick's body he'd taken during the second autopsy, which show Black Friday ads and JC Penny circulars. 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. The county medical examiner concluded Johnson died of positional asphyxia and deemed his death accidental. An inquest would present the evidence in Johnson's death in a public hearing, much like a trial. 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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. 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. 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. ", Complete coverage of Kendrick Johnson on Crimesider, First published on October 11, 2013 / 11:31 AM. School officials found Johnson's body in the gym after his parents reported him missing the night before. Kendricks body found in a gym mat, alongside a pair of shoes [Image: Millennial PR]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. 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. 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. He concluded the teenager died from blunt force trauma near his carotid artery and that the fatal blow appeared to be nonaccidental. 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. 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. 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. [21] Other missing footage was the result of the camera's motion-activated function not being triggered. [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. Justice for Kendrick Johnson! He was located in the left corner of the gym, in a rolled-up mat that was lying against a wall. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. However, his family believes he was murdered by schoolmates and . But the Justice Department found insufficient evidence to support an investigation. [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. Finally, in March 2021, authorities reopened their investigation into Kendrick Johnsons death. Months later, the pair admitted to mutilating and killing Till in a magazine interview they were paid $3,000 for. 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. [12][16] Johnson's family filed a complaint with a regulatory body against the funeral home operator. 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. ", Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. Johnson's family asked the Justice Department to get involved, arguing that authorities failed to investigate Johnson's death thoroughly because he's black. Watson said he reviewed the second autopsy report on Johnson, but found it vague and lacking the specifics of the GBI's findings. "It would've been during or immediately after the autopsy," he said. But Johnson's family believes he was killed and has been pressuring authorities into taking a second look at the case. Kendrick missed his fourth-period class and did not come home from school, prompting his family to file a missing persons report that night. Horrified by what those photos depicted, they decided to post them on social media. Kendrick was found dead in the gymnasium at 10:30 a.m. on January 11, roughly 10 hours after his family reported him missing. 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. 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 . Finding Kendrick Johnson presents police documents that state that Kendrick is 5 feet, 10 inches tall and his shoulders measured 19 inches. Market data provided by Factset. He was never shown within or leaving the gym and indeed, he never did show up for his following classes. 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.
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