The death of Kendrick Johnson remains a mystery to this day. The Georgia teen’s body was discovered inside a rolled-up gym mat at the Lowndes High School gymnasium but his death was determined to be accidental.
Johnson was a high school sophomore, just 17 years old at the time of his unfortunate death. Despite the odd circumstances of his demise, authorities determined that it was likely an accident, theorizing that the teen was attempting to reach a pair of sneakers inside the mat when he fell in headfirst and became trapped.
An autopsy conducted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation concluded that Johnson had died as a result of “accidental, positional asphyxia.” His being trapped in the tight position was likely what ended up killing him. However, his family wasn’t convinced by the autopsy report, something just wasn’t adding up about the whole situation to them, and they suspected there was a cover-up going on.
The family of Kendrick Johnson still want answers
Kendrick’s parents, Jacquelyn and Kenneth Johnson, believe that their son’s death was no accident. According to them, the GBI autopsy report does not address the bruising on Kendrick’s chin, which paramedics who were on the scene mentioned in their initial report.
They were able to obtain a court order to exhume the body and conducted an independent autopsy, which gave them vastly different results from the first one. The conclusion was that there had been a blunt force trauma to the right neck and soft tissues, which suggested Johnson’s death had not been accidental after all.
Even more disturbing was the fact that their son’s body had been stuffed with newspaper before burial. All of Kendrick’s internal organs (including his brain) were missing and their ultimate fate is still unknown. An initial autopsy showed that there was organ damage but the GBI report claimed there were no major injuries. Then the organs just disappear, preventing further reexamination, which seems highly suspicious.
All of this has led the family to suspect that the “accidental” death of Kendrick Johnson may have been a cover-up after all. Given the new evidence, Jacquelyn and Kenneth Johnson have brought a lawsuit against the Georgia Department of Public Health in which they claim that the narrative that their son died in a freak accident is “scientifically and physically impossible,” as per the Miami Herald.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is reportedly standing by the initial findings from the original autopsy. The Johnsons have been fighting this case for over 12 years now, but it doesn’t look like they’ll be backing down anytime soon. They are seeking $12 million in damages and a jury trial.
