The Kendrick Johnson Case

So, recently, a case, particularly in the high school I currently attend in South Georgia, United States, has received national attention from CNN and other news agencies, and is about to have a soon-to-be lawsuit, according to the parents, I believe. I've heard rumors in school that the parents were planning on suing the school district or something. This case is about the death of a teenager named Kendrick Johnson.

Kendrick Johnson died in January of 2013, and the police ruled it as an accident; as he apparently reached down into a gym mat and fell inside and got stuck and ended up dying of positional asphyxia, basically when you die of being crushed by your own weight, or when you're upside down for too long.

This case is receiving multitude of attention because apparently a lot of the details surrounding the case doesn't add up. First, there's contamination of the crime scene (no use of shoe protections), the coroner not being called until hours after the body was discovered, the body being moved from the original death position, the hospital medics that arrived on scene called the gym a "crime scene", though police disregarded it, the police department not answering any questions about the case, substances on the walls not being tested or objects at the scene not being taken into evidence, organs from Kendrick's body missing after the initial autopsy, and the recent new autopsy done on Kendrick's body which apparently rules Kendrick's death as a homicide, as opposed to an accident. "That autopsy, conducted June 15, found blunt force trauma to the right neck and soft tissues, 'consistent with inflicted injury.'"

The family's been calling on lawyers, news stations, and rally's to be held at the Board of Education. I've actually personally seen a ton of rally's being held at the school, the Board of Education (the Board is actually very very close to the school, a good solid minute away), and the court house.

See map reference at the bottom for letters.
The day the death occurred was a crazy day, indeed. I was in my second class (Letter B), out of four, and students were talking about how there was a dead body at the school. I first heard he was murdered by a gunshot wound, then I heard he was stabbed, and I heard a lot of fake stories. But I had heard he died in the old Gym (Letter A). Walking out of my second class to go to the Lunchroom (B to C), I hear chilling screams coming from the parking lot (Letter D) (apparently from the mother of the teenager), and administrators from the school telling people to not go near the Gym and to stay away from the parking lot. So when we got into lunch, everybody was talking about it. So many rumors. The police later arrived, placed crime scene tape across the Gym and around the Lunch room (the gym was located next door to the Lunchroom. The Gym was torn down and is now the new and improved band room.). The administrators would not let anyone leave the Lunchroom for a long time. They tried to explain to us that nothing bad happened and that they would "inform us" about anything that they heard (of course, they didn't). That day, around 800-1,000 or so kids got checked out from school, a good one-third of the school's population.

The next day was even worse though. Police flooded the school, patrolled the hallways during class time, searched cars for valid IDs and parking decals when a student drove on campus, patrolled every student getting dropped off at school. I would say there was a good 10x more police there than any other day (which would be a usual 3 or 2, maybe 4).

Crazy shit indeed.

Articles:
Gym mat death: Attorneys call for surveillance video - CNN.com
Georgia teen Kendrick Johnson's death not accidental, new autopsy says - CNN.com
Kendrick Johnson Death: Missing organs are reason to suspect foul play in Ga. teen's gym mat death, victim's parents say - Crimesider - CBS News
Family Of Georgia Teen Kendrick Johnson Calls On Benjamin Crump After Horrifying Update In Son's Death

Google News page for "Kendrick Johnson"

KENDRICK JOHNSON GALLERY - RELEASED BY CNN
ANOTHER GALLERY - GRAPHIC CONTENT!

There's actually ton of articles. Researching can get you everything from even the day it started. There's a lot of articles.

Map Reference:
Attachment 138300

this is some weird shit. Googled the name and saw the picture where his face is messed up. wtf.

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Originally Posted by Objected

The next day was even worse though. Police flooded the school, patrolled the hallways during class time, searched cars for valid IDs and parking decals when a student drove on campus, patrolled every student getting dropped off at school. I would say there was a good 10x more police there than any other day (which would be a usual 3 or 2, maybe 4).

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If they suspected it was a homicide, no wonder they were out in force.

As for the usual number of police on campus being 2-4... what the literal fuck? You school must be rough. I don't recall there ever being a single police officer at any of my schools. The US is seriously messed up if you need police in schools. I don't know how parents over there can stand knowing it's that dangerous to send kids to school.

Word is they found no organs in him from head to pelvis, it was just stuffed with newspaper.

They were in when they sent the body to the funeral home, but they said the organs were too decomposed.

But honestly, why use newspaper?
Don't they usually use cotton swabs or other material?

So outrageous how they did that to that little boy...

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Originally Posted by Robert

As for the usual number of police on campus being 2-4... what the literal fuck? You school must be rough. I don't recall there ever being a single police officer at any of my schools. The US is seriously messed up if you need police in schools. I don't know how parents over there can stand knowing it's that dangerous to send kids to school.

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The police number is kind of understandable, in my opinion. My school "is now one of the largest high schools in the state of Georgia with a student enrollment of over 3000 students and 170 faculty members," and it is a very large school, as you can see by the map reference. My school has its share of fights, so I mean, it's understandable. It's not like every student's in danger though. I'm sure it's just because it's a large school.

The picture I found he looks mumified. For how long did he lie in the GYM dead? And seriously , if I found out something like that would have happened in the school I went , I probably would have quited the next day or so. Just imagine some psycho , beat him to death , take his organs , stuff him with newspapers , and roll him up in a mat in the GYM. That's scarry as fuck.

Not to mention the parents now send their children to that school like "maybe he comes back , maybe he isn't"

Had you ever seen this person? (Sorry if you mentioned it in the thread. im a bad reader)

My nephew went to a school where a kid killed himself in the gym during class. 10 months police were thinking that it was a murder as the kid had multiple wounds and so on.

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Originally Posted by Robert Mile

The picture I found he looks mumified. For how long did he lie in the GYM dead? And seriously , if I found out something like that would have happened in the school I went , I probably would have quited the next day or so. Just imagine some psycho , beat him to death , take his organs , stuff him with newspapers , and roll him up in a mat in the GYM. That's scarry as fuck.

Not to mention the parents now send their children to that school like "maybe he comes back , maybe he isn't"

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He was in the gym, I believe, for a day or so? Also, he wasn't FOUND with no organs. It was discovered his organs were missing after the initial autopsy by the GBI, though the GBI says they placed the organs back. The funeral home says they never received the organs, though, so it raises a lot of questions.

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Originally Posted by Aksel

Had you ever seen this person? (Sorry if you mentioned it in the thread. im a bad reader)

My nephew went to a school where a kid killed himself in the gym during class. 10 months police were thinking that it was a murder as the kid had multiple wounds and so on.

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I didn't know him personally.


Added a link to photos of the body and other things released by CNN in main post:
http://www.hlntv.com/slideshow/2013/...e?hpt=sizzling

If I had attended that school I probably would have enrolled in another school the next day. I wish I never googled his name as I just saw that picture, pretty bad way to go. :(

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-murdered.html

I recommend IF you are okay with graphic content you should take a look at that.

Their "graphic warning" is below the pictures which have made me shiver, fuck the dailymail I feel like shit after seeing that.

The whole case raises questions. Alot of things were ignored by the police, looks like theyre covering someone up.

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Originally Posted by Aksel

The whole case raises questions. Alot of things were ignored by the police, looks like theyre covering someone up.

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I agree, how can you get rolled up in a mat that big (see the link added in my post) by yourself.

I really feel for the family. We all know that he was murderd, police are the only ones pretending that it was an accident.

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Originally Posted by Aksel

I really feel for the family. We all know that he was murderd, police are the only ones pretending that it was an accident.

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If it wasn't murder it was manslaughter, and how could someone leave someone to die in a rolled-up mat like that, just thinking of that makes me really feel for him and his family.

It actually surprises me that such weird and questionable things in the USA still surprise others. Not that it only happens in the USA, but it's common in big country's with a lot of secrets.

Quote:

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(CNN) -- Surveillance footage shows other minors inside a Georgia high school gym at about the same time authorities say Kendrick Johnson suffocated in a rolled-up mat while reaching for a sneaker, an attorney for the school told CNN on Friday.
The attorney's acknowledgement came in a response to a CNN open records request asking whether other minors were recorded in the footage inside the Lowndes County High School gym on January 10 between 1:09 p.m. and 1:20 p.m., a span of about 10 minutes after Johnson entered the gym.
"I answer your pointed question with 'yes,'" L. Warren Turner Jr.. the attorney, wrote in the letter.
CNN made the request after the school declined to release certain surveillance photos or video, citing state law that exempts the release of "education records of a minor child."
It's the latest revelation in a case that has seen Kendrick's parents challenge the account of authorities and demanded an inquest into the teen's death. Attorneys for Kendrick's family have called for the release of the surveillance video.

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School attorney: Others in surveillance footage of gym mat death case - CNN.com

I believe it wasn't an accident. Glad that the video didn't show the picture of his face, its pretty disturbing to me. (The picture of his face when he was found)

BREAKING NEWS
The parents of Kendrick Johnson went to court yesterday and won an order for all video to be released to the parents, as well as case documents.

Documents can be found at Video released in Kendrick Johnson death | 11alive.com
A new video has been released showing Kendrick walking into the gym with other students. Video is still be released.

U.S. attorney to make announcement in Kendrick Johnson's gym death - CNN.com

this is bullshit crap

God bless him.
May him rest in peace.

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Michael Moore, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, said Thursday that federal authorities will investigate the circumstances behind the death of Johnson, whose bloody body was found inside a rolled-up gym mat on January 11.
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While warning his jurisdiction is limited as a federal prosecutor, Moore said that after lengthy review of evidence collected by authorities and the family's own investigator that "sufficient basis exists" to warrant a formal review of the facts.

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Federal prosecutor will look into Kendrick Johnson case - CNN.com

thank you for keeping us updated with this. really interested in this

Announced Thursday, U.S. attorney Michael Moore is opening a federal investigation into this death.

Federal prosecutor will look into Kendrick Johnson case - CNN.com

It's pretty clear those kids had eyed him up when he went was walking into the Gym, suspicious enough to warrant a federal investigation for sure. (imo)

yeah it looks like he was trying to avoid the kids with backpacks.. when he walked passed him they walked after him.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Robert

As for the usual number of police on campus being 2-4... what the literal fuck? You school must be rough. I don't recall there ever being a single police officer at any of my schools. The US is seriously messed up if you need police in schools. I don't know how parents over there can stand knowing it's that dangerous to send kids to school.

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Pretty standard. Campus cops aren't technically "on-duty" unless it's their assignment, but most of the time the ISDs will hire off-duty cops to come in for 4-5 hours, usually during the morning to lunch periods in high schools. But, regardless, that's 'Murica for ya.

As for the case, you can't tell what the kids are doing. The video shows absolutely nothing in terms of something that points to a homicide. Shit, they don't even know how long the time lapse is in the video yet. Still under investigation, but so far I don't think there was foul play. All they have are a few faces and names of people they will probably question. I don't see anything suspicious on the video. In terms, of the kids "eyeing him up" and Kendrick "avoiding the ones with backpacks"...how can you tell? It's a shitty video and it doesn't even show those same people following him into the gym or anything...the ones playing basketball are completely different people. My guess...accidental death.

My first comment on this thread (might have been second).. I said that it was not an accident but now I realize the mats were vertically positioned so he could have fell in there and no matter how much he moved he would have been held up by the other stuff around the mat, and he could have been knocked unconscious when his head hit the floor. This is a difficult one to judge. I'm thinking that it was actually an accident. Even if it wasn't an accident my thoughts are that it was manslaughter, he could have reached in for his shoe and another kid pushed him in as a joke, hit unconscious and the kids got scared when he didn't respond.

I don't know, just initial thoughts from spending half an hour researching the case.

And I'm still amazed you even have cops on site, in the UK we don't even have security guards or anything. Nothing bad has happened to any school in South Wales that I remember.

NEW VIDEO RELEASED

A new video has been released in this case.

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There were 36 cameras inside and outside the gym of Lowndes High School in Valdosta, where the body of Kendrick Johnson was discovered. The video was released as a result of legal action, filed by his family, that CNN joined.

Johnson's family suspects the 17-year-old was murdered and that someone has tried to cover up evidence in the case.

One clip shows Johnson in the gym. A second shows him walking in, then running out of the frame. In both videos, students suddenly appear.

An attorney for Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine said the video was not altered or edited by anyone within the sheriff's office. An attorney for the school likewise said that what was provided to the sheriff's office was the raw feed, with no edits.

A third clip, which shows students playing in the gym and the mats where Johnson's body was found, is blurry.

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The Johnson family plan to file suit in court to receive the full hard drive from the school to review meta data of the videos to see if they were altered.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/06/us/geo...ath/?c=&page=0

Also, I apologize for any late updates I post. Im currently battling possible legal and school issues of my own.

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Originally Posted by zJordan

And I'm still amazed you even have cops on site, in the UK we don't even have security guards or anything. Nothing bad has happened to any school in South Wales that I remember.

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The high school I went to was the biggest in Estonia. It had a policeman going around, probably because there was alot of students and alot of fights and bullying that the teachers couldn't deal with. I always found it pretty weird, were the teachers lazy or what?

I did my research and im starting to think its an accident aswell but still theres some questionable things.


i looked at the comments in the new article and somone had posted this:

'It's funny how the one camera that actually shows the area where the mats are is BLURRY!!

It's also funny how they say the video wasn't altered, but yet you can clearly see that the images DON'T match up, you see the victim running towards the mats area and then all of a sudden out of no where kids appear in the camera frames.

And why does the police report say that NO ONE was in the gym with the victim when this happened, but clearly you see LOTS of kids in the gym. Someone knows something and I pray that someone steps up and speaks out for this victim'

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Originally Posted by Aksel

It's also funny how they say the video wasn't altered, but yet you can clearly see that the images DON'T match up, you see the victim running towards the mats area and then all of a sudden out of no where kids appear in the camera frames.

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The Sheriff's department has stated that it is because the camera is motion activated. And because the mats aren't visible in the blurry camera, whatever happened to Kendrick was never captured.

New developments

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"I was not notifedi n (sic) this death until 15:45 hours. The investigative climate was very poor to worse when I arrived on the scene. The body had been noticably (sic) moved. The scene had been compromised and there was no cooperation from law enforcement at the scene. Furthermore the integrity of the evidence bag was compromised on January 13, 2013 by opening the sealed bag and exhibiting the dead body to his father," wrote Lowndes County Coroner Bill Watson in a report dated January 22.

"I do not approve of the manner this case was handled. Not only was the scene compromised, the body was moved. The integrrety (sic) was breached by opening a sealed body bag, information necessary for my lawful investigation was withheld," he said.

The coroner's death investigation report was obtained by CNN through an open records request directed at the coroner's office.

A second coroner's death investigation report was provided by the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office.

The second report, which is not signed nor dated, is not nearly as critical as the first.

"I was not called by investigating officers regarding this death until the afore listed time of notification," it read.

It was not immediately clear why there were two coroner's reports. The inconsistencies between them were also not clear.

When contacted by CNN, a lawyer for the Lowndes County sheriff and the Lowndes County coroner declined to address specific questions about the reports.

"In light of the US attorney's review of this matter, the Lowndes County sheriff and the Lowndes County coroner will not comment further on this case. They will fully cooperate and respond to all inquiries of the United States attorney," Jim Elliott wrote in an e-mail.

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Coroner slams handling of Kendrick Johnson case - CNN.com

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Lowndes County Schools insists the video is "a raw feed with no edits," and the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office, which asserts Johnson accidentally died while reaching for a shoe in one of the mats, says it didn't edit any files, according to their lawyers.

CNN, which filed suit to secure access to the video, hired forensic video analyst Grant Fredericks to analyze more than 290 hours of material from all 35 cameras inside and outside of the gym. Fredericks is a U.S. Justice Department consultant and contract instructor for the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

CNN also provided Fredericks and his company, the Spokane, Washington-based Forensic Video Solutions, with hundreds more hours of video from 31 cameras in other parts of Lowndes County High School.

Fredericks quickly knocked down the Johnsons' concerns -- they're all easily explained, he said -- but his examination raised what could be another mystery: at least an hour of missing video from all four cameras inside the gym.

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Kendrick Johnson footage released; expert finds it 'highly suspicious' - CNN.com

Absolutely amazing developments occurring.

Thanks for keeping this update. Shocking how those clips were missing at the same times. Then suddenly came back on at the same time. Someone probably removed them to hide the truth.

Yeah, that makes no sense. The cameras cut out at similar times and come back in at similar times, where every other time/day there are no problems.

There is obviously something going on here. :/

Wow, I live in Georgia and heard nothing about this until I read this post. Huh...

I'm perturbed that it took so long for the schools IT officer to provide video surveillance. The police report says that their detective asked for surveillance of the last 48 hours. It took the IT officer 5 days to provide a hard-drive that MIGHT contain those 48 hours give or take. Really? 5 days? Are they busy doing something else because providing appropriate evidence isn't a priority? Not to mention it never should have been a request of the IT officer; they should have gotten their own expert to retrieve the potentially ground-breaking evidence, but now they're left with scattered video.

O'....sigh

Not much has been going on in this case, but here's an update:

The Kendrick Johnson family has been protesting in Atlanta, Georgia in hopes to have their voices heard by more people. They also filed a compliant on the handling of Kendrick's body.

CNN - Kendrick Johnson family holds rally after filing complaint about missing organs

Breaking news in this case! The FBI is now getting involved.

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The FBI was expected Thursday to seize the original hard drives from the surveillance system at Lowndes High School, where 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson was found dead in a rolled-up gym mat earlier this year, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation surrounding the hard drives.
U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia Michael Moore issued a grand jury subpoena to seize the hard drives, the source said.

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FBI to seize school hard drives in Kendrick Johnson probe, source says - CNN.com