Are Our Children Safe?

Are Our Children Really Safe?



Written by: Ozzy
                        
For: Crime.Connection(exclusive article)

Pages: 2

Word count: 607

Sources: Wikipedia, Crime Junkies Podcast, various news articles posted about the case.

Photos: FaceBook


On January 11, 2013 a body was discovered in a high school gym in what most people would have described as very unusual circumstances.

Kendrick Johnson(17) was described by many who knew him as a sweet and kind young man and very active young adult.                                        
He was a 3-sport athlete and excelled in all of them, all in the hopes of getting a scholarship in the not so distant future and advancing himself through obtaining a tertiary education.

At 17 years old Kendrick still lived with his family in Valdosta, Georgia, he was a student of Lowndes High school, just a normal teenager, with a dream of becoming a pro athlete, his death has remained a mystery to his family and friends, and their cries for justice unheard.

Seven years ago on 11 Jan 2013 Kendrick Johnsons body was found upside down, rolled up in a standing gym mat with his sneakers stuck behind is knees. His mysterious death was initially ruled an accidental death, but his family and friends could not accept that and despite many talks with investigators, the Sheriffs Department adopted and stood behind the story told by their evidence collected during their investigation.

The Sheriffs Department had an autopsy done and with the evidence collected at the scene,  ruled Kendrick’s death an accident and the cause of death, “Positional Asphyxia” which basically means that he was stuck in a restrictive, confined space upside down and because of that he succumbed to a lack of oxygen in roughly 24hrs. They closed the case and expected everyone to move on.
The Sheriffs Department believed that Kendrick had accidentally fallen into the middle of the rolled up mat in an effort to get to his sneakers, which they believed he stuffed in there in an effort to avoid paying for locker rental. In short, they believed he got stuck and  eventually died.
Johnson’s family believed that there was foul play involved and found the haste involved in closing the case by the Sheriffs Department very suspicious and were convinced of a cover up. How on earth in a school with over 3000 students did nobody hear their son cry for help? When the mat was unrolled one of Kendrick’s arms were tucked above his head and the other to the side of his body. Why was one sneaker stuck behind is knees? And why was there no blood on the sneaker laying directly below Kendrick’s head? In fact, it was found laying on top of a pool of blood. What about the blood that was that was found on the wall of the gym?

On 8 May 2013 after a massive public outcry caused by Kendrick’s family by releasing a photo of their sons bloody swollen face, a Judge ordered Kendrick’s body to be exhumed. A private Pathologist was employed and the findings of their autopsy revealed:
A)Kendrick Johnson suffered hemorrhaging on the right side of his neck, which basically means he suffered blunt force trauma.
B)Kendrick Johnson’s death was not an accident
C)Some of Johnsons organs were missing and replaced with balled up newspaper.
In June 2018 Kendrick’s body was exhumed again and the findings were almost identical to the 2013.
The case remains closed, and his death an accident, we hope to one day have resolution for the Johnson family and justice for Kendrick.
Written by: Ozzy
                        
For: Crime.Connection(exclusive article)

Sources: Wikipedia, Crime Junkies Podcast, various news articles posted about the case.

Photos: FaceBook

#photography