After years of fighting, Kendrick Johnson’s parents have learned that no charges will be filed in the death of their son. The family has also discovered that Johnson, whose body was found wrapped in a gym mat, was murdered, but they might never know who killed their child.
Kendrick Johnson‘s family met with officials from the U.S. attorney’s office and learned that no charges will be filed in the death of their teenage son.
On Monday, representatives from the U.S. Justice Department revealed to Johnson’s parents, Jacquelyn and Kenneth Johnson, that due to lack of sufficient evidence, they will not be able to file federal civil-rights charges in the death of the young man. A statement issued by the DOJ read:
“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 Johnson’s civil rights or committed any other prosecutable federal crime.”
To their surprise, the grieving parents also learned that federal officials agreed with them that their son’s death was not an accident. The teen’s father said:
“The U.S. Department of Justice officials told me that investigators agreed with the findings by Dr. William Anderson who found that Kendrick Johnson died from a blow to the right side of the neck, and the manner of death was not an accident.”
The Johnson family said federal officials told them that they have no idea about who killed their child. Kendrick Johnson’s body was discovered on January 11, 2013, by classmates at Lowndes County High School in Georgia.
It was wrapped in a large and rolled-up mat inside the gymnasium where a security camera caught him entering alone on January 10. A Lowndes County sheriff’s investigation and an autopsy performed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation concluded:
“…that Johnson had fallen onto the mat and asphyxiated while looking for a missing shoe.”
Kenneth and Jacquelyn Johnson never accepted the “accident story” and requested that the body be exhumed in June 2013, only to learn that Johnson’s organs had been removed, and his corpse stuffed with newspapers. Dr. William R. Anderson, the pathologist the Johnsons hired to perform the second autopsy, explained:
“I detected hemorrhaging on the right side of Kendrick Johnson’s neck, and concluded the boy died from what appeared to be non-accidental blunt force trauma.”
In January 2016, the parents filed a $100 million civil lawsuit against several Georgia officials, whom they believe faked evidence so the murderer can get away. Kendrick’s mother stated:
“We know Kendrick was murdered, no ifs ands or buts about it.”
