Latest / Murder Files Unsealed / Death of Kendrick Johnson - Part One

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Death of Kendrick Johnson - Part One · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: Kendrick Johnson was discovered deceased in January twenty thirteen, situated
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  within a rolled up jim maat at Lowndes High School
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  in Valdosta, Georgia. The circumstances surrounding his death raise questions
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  was it a tragic accident or something more malevolent. On
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  January eleventh, twenty thirteen, the lifeless body of seventeen year
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  old Kendrick Johnson was found in an extraordinary position, inverted
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  and encased within a school jimmat. Initially, law enforcement classified
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  Kendrick Johnson's death as accidental, However, his family remained skeptical.
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  The preliminary autopsy indicated that Johnson succumbed to positional asphyxia,
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  suggesting he suffocated after being trapped upside down in a
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  confined space for a prolonged duration within just twenty four
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  hours of his discovery. Investigators concluded that Johnson's death was accidental.
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  The Sheriff's department maintained that Johnson must have inadvertently fallen
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  into the mat while attempting to retrieve a sneaker he
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  had placed there to avoid locker fees. However, Johnson's parents
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  believed that their son's death was not being adequately investigated,
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  partly due to racial factors or the possibility of a
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  broader cover up. The mysterious death of Kendrick Johnson, the
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  boy in the rolled up Jim Matt Kendrick Johnson resided
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  with his family in Valdosta, Georgia, and was a student
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  at Lowndes High School. His family and peers characterized him
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  as a gentle and reserved individual. A talented athlete, he
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  participated in three sports and aspired to pursue a career
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  in professional football. Tragically, his aspirations were abruptly halted when
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  his body was discovered by fellow students entering the gymnasium
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  rolled up inside a standing gym mat. His sneakers were
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  found positioned behind his knees. Investigators swiftly concluded that Johnson
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  had accidentally fallen into the mat while attempting to retrieve
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  one of his shoes. Upon the initial unrolling of the mat,
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  it was observed that Johnson had one arm extended above
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  his head and the other positioned around his waist, suggesting
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  he was struggling to reach for his sneaker. At that time,
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  he was only wearing socks. Students informed the authorities that
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  it was a common practice to leave personal items in
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  the mats to avoid locker fees. The gym mat in
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  which Johnson was located measured approximately six feet in height.
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  When rolled, it created a central opening with a diameter
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  of fourteen inches. Johnson's shoulders measured nineteen inch across, and
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  he stood five feet ten inches tall. It appeared feasible
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  that if Kendrick attempted to fit into the center of
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  the mat, he might have compressed his shoulders to reduce
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  his width. However, his parents later argued that the disparity
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  between his size and that of the mat was sufficient
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  to refute the investigator's theory. Nearly a full day elapsed
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  before Johnson was found. Given his inverted position, blood would
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  have accumulated in his head, leading to potential bleeding from
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  his facial openings. One of the most perplexing aspects of
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  this case is the presence of a black and white
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  jim shoe located on the ground beneath Kendrick Johnson. This shoe,
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  which he was believed to be reaching, for, rested atop
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  a pool of blood. However, it bore no traces of
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  blood itself. Additionally, a hoodie and a pair of orange
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  and black jimshoe hues were discovered on the gym floor,
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  accompanied by bloodstains on a nearby wall. Upon testing, investigators
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  determined that the blood did not belong to Kendrick Johnson
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  and suggested that it had likely been present for an
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  extended period. Notably, the hoodie and the orange and black
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  gym shoes were not collected as evidence by the investigators.
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  Suspicions arise in the Kendrick Johnson case from the outset.
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  Johnson's parents harbored doubts regarding the investigation. They felt that
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  the Sheriff's department hastily dismissed the possibility of foul play
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  in relation to Johnson's death, as they reached the conclusion
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  of an accidental death within just twenty four hours of
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  discovering Kendrick Johnson's body. The Johnsons were convinced that their
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  son's body had been relocated, a claim supported by Lowndes
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  County Coroner Bill Watson. According to Georgia state law, the
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  coroner must be notified immediately upon the discovery of a body. However,
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  Watson stated that he was not informed until six hours
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  had passed. Additionally, Johnson's parents contended that if this incident
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  were indeed an accident, it was perplexing that no one
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  in a high school with over three thousand students heard
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  Kendrick calling for assistance. Ultimately, they believed that their son's
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  death was not being treated with the seriousness it deserved
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  due to racial factors. Kendrick Johnson was black, while the
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  Lownes County Sheriff, Chris Prines and his investigative team were
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  all white. In twoenty thirteen, the presence of racism in Valdusta,
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  Georgia was still evident, and the family's attorney, Chevernet King,
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  asserted that had Kendrick been white, the case would have
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  been approached in a markedly different manner. His family searches
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  for the truth. The parents of Kendrey