The Department of Justice announced today that the independent federal investigation into the 2013 death of 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson in Valdosta, Georgia, found insufficient evidence to support federal criminal charges. They know my morals and values when it comes to doing the job. I think of myself and others that I know who have done stupid or silly things that almost ended their lives. Members of Johnsons family protested the original autopsy findings, believing he was murdered. Though they were initially denied, federal officials finally handed over 17 boxes of materials on the case to them last week, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. My desk drawer is bulging with cases Ive solved. Then, looking into the story and seeing how truly unbelievable it was, how it had been almostcompletely dropped by the media, and how nobody seemed to care about it, after speaking withthe family and getting their permission we decided that what I did with the Mike Brown casereally needed to be done for Kendricks case. Coleman says he is cautiously optimistic about the tape and the reopening of the investigation. You believe that lie because youre taught it by your teachers, your parents, your pastors, and then you grow up and are told you bought into that lie and you get made about that. Even bad people have consciousness, said Paulk. The next investigation was a federal one. Posted at 7:11 PM, Mar 08, 2021. and last updated 9:24 AM, Mar 09, 2021. Timeline of a tragedy | Local News | valdostadailytimes.com Undeterred, Johnsons father and Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk wrote a letter to the Justice Department in 2019 requesting documents related to the case. There are few starker example than Kendrick Johnson, an African American teenager found dead inside a rolled-up gym mat at his high school gymnasium in 2013. In what appears to be an addendum to the second autopsy report, done in June of 2013, it was determined Johnsons cause of death was non-accidental blunt force trauma to his right neck and right thorax, which is the body cavity between the neck and abdomen. It shouldnt have happened to Kendrick. The teens parents say they are not convinced. Kendrick Johnson Case Reopened By Sheriff's Office, Possible Confession Like when you say that shouldnt have happened to Kendrick, youre exactly right. Theres still a lot of questions people want answered.. Its deep programming. But I just didnt let this die, I sat on my little egg all of last year just waiting for the right moment to figure out how to get it out because its a very important story in American history and one that has been completely forgotten about and covered up pretty much until now. Chilling photos show death scene of teen found suffocated inside He contends the files would say the familys autopsy was the most accurate and that Rick Bell was forced to leave the FBI. During an autopsy, internal organs are routinely removed and examined before being returned for burial. The Lowndes sheriffs department (Paulk was not sheriff then) and the GBI concluded that early on. The family said they believe it is a confession of the killer. Joined by Coleman, they presented the audio recording to Ashley Paulk, Lowndes County sheriff. Post retirement I joined the effort to solve these missing persons cases and I have done that, in more cases than you might suspect. Hello Mr. Pollock and Mr. Credle,..Ive worked on Kendricks case off and on for more than 2 years. TCR: Now that the case has been reopened, what do you think the next steps should be inthe investigation? This is America in 2021. Seven people testified that students, including Johnson, often stored shoes or other items inside the mats, according to the sheriff's report. The US Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Ohio declined to comment. The Kendrick Johnson Case: A timeline of events in the case - WALB The following day, she went to his school to alert staff he was missing, as well as to check if he'd shown up. 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. The entertainment industry loves to do documentaries on white death, but when theres a case like Kendricks, that is difficult to look at and difficult to think about, they avoid it. Finding Kendrick Johnson uses public documents to show the last moments of the teen's life. "But then the phone rang. Most people in Hollywood, especially white people, hadnt heard about KJs story and we had a lot of doors closed because of that fact. Did he hit his head going into the mat. Months after his death, Lowndes County Sheriffs Office investigators ruled it was an accident and closed the case. Kendrick Johnson, 17, was found dead in a mat at Lowndes High School in 2013. From the day you are born white in certain zip codes you are taught a lie about our nation. 2:24 PM EST, Thu January 27, 2022, Justice Dept. All rights reserved. And, for me, it really took the air out of my balloon when it came to law enforcement in general. How and why he lost his life remains. Any time you have the inexplicable death of a young man and there are conflicting reports out there, it is the job of law enforcement to look into those things.. 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Almost a decade after Georgia investigators concluded 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson's death in his school's gymnasium was a freak accident, authorities have reopened the case and are looking into potential new evidence that includes a possible recorded confession. Or at least the fact that he died as a result of something other than an accident." Kendrick was found dead in the gymnasium at 10:30 a.m. on January 11, roughly 10 hours after his family reported him missing. New film revisits mysterious death of Black high school athlete in The paragraph starts with: On January 11, 2013 at 10:32 am. appreciated. JASON POLLOCK: It all started in Ferguson [Missouri], right after Mike Brown was killed. This is a developing story and WALB will update as more information becomes available. Kendrick Johnson, was a 17-year-old high school sophomore, found dead, inside of a rolled-up gym mat at Lowndes High School gymnasium on January 11, 2013. That suit fell apart and a judge ordered the Johnsons and King to pay $292,000 to cover the attorney fees of those accused. Kendrick Johnson's murder was Finding Kendrick Johnson: Directed by Jason Pollock. Krista Monkon Scribd. Johnson's family filed a $100 million civil lawsuit against 38 individuals, stating that his death was a murder and that the respondents were participants in a conspiracy to cover up the homicide, which they claimed involved two sons of an FBI agent. Johnson was found dead in the early days of January 2013. Some 8 hours. One of the deepest, weirdest layers of the story is the fact that the city let it go on for this long. A Warner Bros. Did you encounter any technical issues? Paulk and his team are currently investigating the recording and verifying the voice. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. So, theres none of that in my movie because those are all lies. When are the 2023 college graduation ceremonies in Georgia? POLLOCK:The reason I went down the FBI rabbit hole was because once we concluded that the FBI was the governing body of this cover-up, then I needed to show that this didnt happen in a bubble. CREDLE:What he did was obstruction of justice. 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. 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What I do in the film is show things that people dont want to talk about that we forgot about that have been pushed under the rug because its easier for these southern white communities to pretend that it didnt happen than to have to change. Im treating it like its a brand new case, Paulk told the news outlet. Community. Russ Bynum/AP. Lowndes County is in southern Georgia.