Massive protests in 2020 inspired a petition to be created that called for the investigation of Kendrick Johnson’s death to be reopened.
What We Know:
- Johnson was found rolled up in a gym mat at Lowndes High School gymnasium in 2013. The official ruling by state and local authorities reported that Johnson suffocated himself by getting in the mat. Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk confirmed that a new probe had been started after receiving 17 boxes of evidence from the U.S Justice Department. Paulk believes the latest investigation could take six months.
- The original investigation was closed back in June 2020 due to insufficient evidence. Family spokesperson Marcus Coleman stated that “they [Johnson Family] are grateful, but cautiously optimistic.” in light of new information on the case and an audio confession that was sold to Johnson’s mother. Coleman and the Johnson family reached out to the Northern District of Ohio to obtain federal documents on the case. Paulk received a call on Christmas saying the documents would be released.
- Seventeen boxes of hard drives, paperwork, and other materials were delivered to the sheriff’s office in February and March. The Johnson family believes their son was murdered by a schoolmate who had the incident covered up by the school and authorities. For this reason, they sought out another autopsy from Dr. William Anderson and had conducted private autopsies, which show blunt force trauma as the cause of death. A third autopsy in 2018 revealed Johnson also had some of his organs missing.
- Coleman and the Johnson family refiled a lawsuit in 2019 arguing that their son’s clothes and organs, including his brain, were disposed of in order to interfere with the investigation. Paulk was retired and not the sheriff at the time of the original investigation. He came back out of retirement in 2017. Investigators are declining to comment on any details involving the audio confession. Paulk revealed that it could take up to two weeks before forensic experts could determine the tape’s authenticity; however, they have identified the sender who allegedly attempted to extort the Johnson family out of money for the audiotape.
After nearly a decade, the family of Kendrick Johnson is one step closer to receiving closure and justice for the teenager.
