GA - Kendrick Johnson, 17, Suspicious Death, Jan. 10/11, 2013, #1

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A CNN segment on this...

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2013/05/25/exp-mysterious-teen-death.cnn

I'm still finding this accident thing very hard to believe. :twocents:

Thanks! So the DOJ is going to review the case and the former FBI agent interviewed said there are more questions than answers, and from his reading of the reports, the crime scene was compromised. The coroner stated the same in an interview but later did not want the interview shown.
 
Looks like a second autopsy has been ordered
http://www.walb.com/story/22525078/cnn-second-autopsyset-for-kendrick-johnsons-body

From the article above
"On Thursday, attorney Chevene King announced at a news conference that the Patient Care Report from the responding paramedics shows Johnson's body was partially in a rolled up wrestling mat; but his torso, head, and arms were exposed.

King says that contradicts investigators claims that Johnson's body was found upside down stuck in the mat".
 
Looks like a second autopsy has been ordered
http://www.walb.com/story/22525078/cnn-second-autopsyset-for-kendrick-johnsons-body

From the article above
"On Thursday, attorney Chevene King announced at a news conference that the Patient Care Report from the responding paramedics shows Johnson's body was partially in a rolled up wrestling mat; but his torso, head, and arms were exposed.

King says that contradicts investigators claims that Johnson's body was found upside down stuck in the mat".
Actually, it doesn't contradict investigators claims.
Whoever found the body probably removed him from the mat before paramedics arrived. Which would explain why the paramedics described him as being partially rolled up.
 
The thing I learned from that video is what the mats look like - I had thought they were VERY heavy, but it looks like I could comfortably carry one. I really had thought they were those very thick gymnastics mats that you can barely drag across the room using all your might.
I don't think they are as light as they look, although not terribly heavy. The 1 1/2" thick is 141 lbs and the 2" thick is 169 lbs. Not easy to pick up by any means.

http://www.americanathletic.com/416-788.html#catRef=Gymnastics
 
Wouldn't it matter how tightly the matts were rolled?

Also the "after" facial pic looks pretty bad but if the body was upside down and all of the blood and fluids drained into the head I would guess that could happen.
It certainly would matter how tightly the mats were rolled. If they can get some pictures of the mats as they were at the time, it would tell them if some were rolled looser than others. My school used to keep the mats rolled up behind/under the stage (multi purpose room), and they were everything from perfectly tight to barely rolled at all. Ours were never stored on the end, though.

It is good that they are going to check again, though. Most of the contradictions make sense, because of course they would pull the body out to see if he was still alive, but a couple things are really off and I cannot tell if it is sloppy report writing or something actually was missed.
 
[video=youtube;Su_vSiDFCCk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su_vSiDFCCk[/video]
 
Haven't heard anything on this case. Should we assume that the second autopsy confirmed the first one? The Facebook page hasn't been updated since July 11.
 
Sorry if this has already been mentioned but I could see the following scenario happening:

Kendrick was in the gym for PE and took his shoes off for some reason. Maybe to change into sneakers. Another student decides to take one of his shoes and hide it by throwing it into the rolled up mat. This may have even been a friend just playing around. So he is looking for his other shoe and no one tells him because they think its funny. The bell rings and he goes on to his next class and just thinks its lost. Then at some point someone tells him they threw the shoe into the rolled up mat. So he goes back into the gym later to find the shoe and as he is reaching down to get it he falls in and maybe no one was there to hear him screaming for help.

Wonder if there are cameras in the gym. That would settle this.
 
Sorry if this has already been mentioned but I could see the following scenario happening:

Kendrick was in the gym for PE and took his shoes off for some reason. Maybe to change into sneakers. Another student decides to take one of his shoes and hide it by throwing it into the rolled up mat. This may have even been a friend just playing around. So he is looking for his other shoe and no one tells him because they think its funny. The bell rings and he goes on to his next class and just thinks its lost. Then at some point someone tells him they threw the shoe into the rolled up mat. So he goes back into the gym later to find the shoe and as he is reaching down to get it he falls in and maybe no one was there to hear him screaming for help.

Wonder if there are cameras in the gym. That would settle this.

Here is a link to a timeline where the sheriff and other LE discuss what the video at the gym shows. I think this was posted previously:

http://valdostadailytimes.com/local/x6223544/Timeline-of-a-tragedy

“He comes down the hallway, and essentially he enters the gym. He’s following another kid,” said Jones. “The first kid comes in and goes to the left. Kendrick goes in and off to the right towards the corner where the mats are. You don’t see anyone trailing him or someone he’s having a dispute with,” adding that allegations he had been in a confrontation that day or the day before were false.

Shortly after, other students could be observed entering the gym for class and you could see kids playing basketball later on another camera, according to Jones.

“We can only assume that he had gone down into the mat by that time,” said Prine.

More at link.....
 
Haven't heard anything on this case. Should we assume that the second autopsy confirmed the first one? The Facebook page hasn't been updated since July 11.

Since the original date for the second autopsy was late June and the June 30th article said two weeks I suppose this is possible. I'm pretty sure if the second autopsy confirmed their suspicions we'd have heard about it.
 
Georgia teen Kendrick Johnson, who was found dead in a rolled-up gym mat at his high school in January, died as the result of "unexplained, apparent non-accidental, blunt force trauma," according to a newly released, independent autopsy report.

The report, obtained exclusively Tuesday by CNN, directly contradicts the finding of an autopsy conducted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation that determined that Johnson's death was the result of positional asphyxia. The Lowndes County Sheriff's Office determined that his death was accidental.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/03/us/georgia-teen-death-autopsy/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
 
This is an interesting development. I still believe that he could his face could have suffered bruising when he fell into the mat. But I'm curious if there will be further investigation and, if so, how the video evidence will be interpreted. JMO, OMO, and MOO.
 
Very interesting...."non-accidental"

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Just heard about this case today for the first time on HLN, and my first impression was that it looked like your typical dead body rolled up in a carpet, as often is the case in murders. I never would've thought accidentally fell into the rolled up mat!!
 
I remember this case from awhile back and read every article on it at the time and did extensive research and the scenario that he was trying to reach his shoe in the rolled up mat seemed the most likely. I saw no evidence of any foul play.

His shoe was found at the bottom of the hole created by the rolled up mat. I do not think there is anyway that someone would be able to shove him into the mat against his will It was a tight fit and the only way a body could get into that hole was to be alive and actively trying to get into it.

As for the theory that he was beat up and rolled up into it.. the "perp" would have had to had some help to move all of the mats to get that mat behind all of the others. Plus, why would a perp throw a lone shoe into the hole at the bottom of the mat?

I'm sorry for the family's loss. I know when a loved one dies a senseless death, that the loved ones search for every possible reason possible why it happened but in this case I do think it was an accident and the victim was alone when it happened.

After all, many other student reported that they stored their gym shoes in secret places in the gym so that fits in to why his shoes were there. The lockers for the kids were apparently on the other side of the school and the kids did not have time to retrieve and then put back shoes between classes.

Based upon the fact that he was upside down, the blood pooling in his face would account for the bruised look. The weight of the blood, along with tissue that was decomposing would cause great swelling and damage to the tissue.

The "blunt force trauma" that the 2nd autopsy shows, was it just tissue damage or was there damage to a bone/skill such as a hairline fracture, etc?
 
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