Well sometimes, something like that will drive people out. A recent documentary, Finding Kendrick Johnson, narrated by the actress who plays the grandmother in the hit series Black-ish, mines that vein and digs deep into conspiracy and the horror of lynching. While conspiracies surrounding Kendrick's death have been the subject of numerous investigative shows and documentaries, filmmaker Jason Pollock, who recently released Finding Kendrick Johnson, focuses on one fundamental question: What happened? Paulk told WALB its a great feeling having the new evidence but hopes someone is not playing a cruel joke on the family. He might as well offer $5 million or even $5 billion. 25,332 people like this. The family believes and Paulk confirmed the recording may possibly be of someone already questioned in the investigation. Copyright 2018 WALB. The reality of whats going on is not understood in general, some things that would curl the toes even of a man like yourself. On Jan. 10, 2013, when Kendrick didn't return home from school, his mom, Jacquelyn Johnson, wasn't worried at first. On January 11th, 2013, Kendrick Johnson was found dead in his high school gymnasium rolled up in a gym mat. Tills mother publicized images of her dead sons face to bring home the horror of the crime. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. For years, rumors and controversy has swirled around the death of 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson, a Georgia teen who was found dead inside a rolled-up gymnasium mat in 2013. Kendrick Johnson 's body was found in a wrestling mat Jan. 11, 2013, in the Lowndes High School gym in Valdosta, Georgia. "But these are the facts. It just took me back to when Kendrick was first killed. POLLOCK:I think that it is very important in our journalism and art culture that we have the op-ed and I did not feel that it was necessary to interview white people in Valdosta about this story, because there were already eight years of records of what they thought about it. The circumstances of his death have been a source of conjecture, gossip, allegations and lawsuits ever since. Kendrick Johnson: Death scene photos suggest athlete may have been Coleman says a tipster sold the tape for $1,000 to the Johnson family. Kenneth Johnson said at a news conference that he believes his son's death is being covered up. One of the deepest, weirdest layers of the story is the fact that the city let it go on for this long. 2023 Cable News Network. 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 Johnsons civil rights or committed any other prosecutable federal crime, it said in a statement. Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305. All of the evidence, testimony, interviews, grand jury testimony and even the blatant coercion and intimidation of some persons being questioned does not produce anything to prove any criminal act by anyone that would have resulted in the death of KJ, he wrote. The next day, he was found dead, his body rolled up in a wrestling mat that was standing upright in a corner of the school gym with his sock-covered feet sticking out of the top. In 2015, the grieving family filed a $100 million lawsuit that accused the former sheriff, the school superintendent and an FBI agent of stuffing the body inside the mat in the school gym to disguise it as an accident. VALDOSTA, Ga. (WALB) - Kendrick Johnsons family is full of hope after they brought a new recording to light with a possible confession to law enforcement. Kendrick didnt deserve this man. A couple of seconds go by and he ends with a very tearful theyre going to catch me anyways, Coleman said of the recording. The following transcript has been edited for space and clarity. Post retirement I joined the effort to solve these missing persons cases and I have done that, in more cases than you might suspect. They treated everything as if it was an accident, which was improper and premature. CREDLE:During the investigation, we were deputized with federal powers and jurisdiction to do anything and everything we had to do from a law enforcement perspective. Marcus Coleman provided a transcript of the recording which says "[They're] gonna catch me anywaysshould've never done that.". There are issues that arise after I solve a case, issues often from surprising sources. As a result, they got a court order to exhume Kendrick's body and paid for an independent autopsy, which concluded that his cause of death was blunt force trauma to the right neck and soft tissues, and suggested his death was not accidental. TCR: Mitch, as a homicide veteran of the DC police department, how does this story compare to other murder cases youve handled? I think an outside agency should investigate everything thatoccurred and, this time, the investigators should stay down there every day until its done. Hours Later, Dead Bodies Were Found, Connecticut Man Who Vanished a Decade Ago Found Dead After Living Under New Name in New York, Ariz. 'Finding Kendrick Johnson' Documentary Shows Facts, Not - People Eventually, after a November 2020 visit by the Johnson family with federal investigators, that request was granted and the Justice Department turned over its investigative material to the sheriffs office. The independent autopsy performed by Anderson also found that Johnsons brain, heart, lungs, liver and other organs were gone, while his parents also discovered his body was stuffed with newspapers prior to his burial. The person on the tape must be identified, Ii it is a hoax, with the scammer who sold it, we need to know why those words exist on that tape, Coleman said. 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. It was simply a tragic and bizarre accident. His body was discovered the next morning when a class entered the gym and sat on the bleachers next to the mats, the report says. Eight years after the body of Kendrick Johnson was found in a rolled-up gym mat at a high school in Georgia, the Lowndes County Sheriffs Office has announced it is reopening the case after authorities initially ruled the 17-year-olds cause of death as accidental. The Johnson family spokesperson said the audio was recorded secretly and sold to the family, by who they describe as an alleged family member, for $1,000. I will fight as long as I have to uncover what exactly happened to Kendrick Johnson, said his father, Kenneth Johnson, wearing a T-shirt that read: "Kendrick Johnson didnt roll himself up into no mat.. I wont take credit however, I prayed before I began this work, asked God to help me with this difficult task. "In closing, I am quite sure that there will still be a contingent that will believe there was foul play. His parents, however, felt he was killed. Not now. Hollywood is directly responsible for this kind of programming. CNN A second local investigation into the 2013 death of Kendrick Johnson, the Georgia teenager who was found dead in a rolled-up gym mat, has been closed with no charges filed, according to. The Valdosta Daily Times Kendrick Johnson is shown wearing his Lowndes basketball uniform. The only things that are in my movie are data points in their own paperwork. For now, Pollock hopes people will watch the documentary to learn about the facts of the case and decide on their own whether Kendrick was a victim of an accident or a crime. The circumstances of his death have been a source of conjecture, gossip, allegations and lawsuits ever since. Eight years after the body of Kendrick Johnson was found in a rolled-up gym mat at a high school in Georgia, the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office has announced it is reopening the case after. MITCH CREDLE: This is the first time Ive ever experienced any type of homicide investigation that was done this way. Racism is the front and center reality of this story and all the other stories like it that are coming to the forefront now. Log In. An investigation into the death of Kendrick Johnson, the Georgia teenager found dead in a rolled-up gym mat eight years ago, has been reopened, according to Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk.. We do know there is what appears to be a Caucasian male admitting tearfully and fearfully to the killing of Kendrick Johnson, Coleman said. About See All. State and local law enforcement officials ruled the death an accidental. Theres still a lot of questions people want answered.. The Lowndes County Sheriff's Office reopened the case in March. I quote they are going to catch me anyway, I shouldve never done this. Why has this Georgia man been behind bars for 10 years awaiting trial? Well, in this case, the other side is lying, so, why are you giving them air time? Kendrick Johnson death investigation will be reopened, Georgia - CNN It went on to say that an agent in someway,facilitated the editing of the high schools surveillance video by corrupting or deleting some one hour and twenty-five minutes of the original recording.. The body of Kendrick Johnson, 17, was found upside-down in a large mat in his high school gym in 2013. VALDOSTA, GA (WALB) - WALB has obtained autopsy results of the third autopsy done on Kendrick K.J." Still from documentary . William R. Anderson, a doctor hired by Johnson's family, conducted the second autopsy in June 2013 after his body was exhumed. All rights reserved. KENDRICK JOHNSON MEMORIAL - Home | Facebook TCR: Why do you feel its so difficult for people to come to terms with the racist realitiesthat lead to crimes like this and how does that avoidance of reality precipitate theircontinuance? Aside from that,people know me. He said Kendrick Johnson's brain, heart and tongue were among the missing organs. It was just how he was raised. An autopsy conducted by a pathologist who was hired by Johnsons family determined that the cause of death was unexplained, apparent non-accidental, blunt-force trauma to the neck. My desk drawer is bulging with cases Ive solved. However, when Dr. Bill Anderson, the private pathologist who conducted the second autopsy, examined Kendrick's remains, the brain, heart, lungs, liver and every other organ from the pelvis to the skull were all missing. Johnsons parents, however, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in 2015, pointing fingers at two brothers, Brian and Branden Bell, and their friend, Ryan Hall, as the perpetrators behind their sons death. 'FINDING KENDRICK JOHNSON' is the feature documentary product of a 4 year undercover investigation into the facts of this case. by TCR Staff, The Crime Report October 19, 2021, This article first appeared on The Crime Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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