Blood streaks, an abandoned sneaker and more grisly scene pictures suggest 17-year-old athlete found dead in wrestling mat may have been murdered

  • Newly obtained video and grisly photos from the gym where Kendrick Johnson, 17, was found dead in a wrestling mat in January have emerged
  • The images were taken immediately after the body was found by sheriff's investigators
  • However, much of the potential evidence shown in the images was left by detectives and not tested
  • Johnson's body was found in rolled-up mat and initial reports said he fell in while reaching for a shoe
  • County law enforcement officials ruled Kendrick's death an accident based on official autopsy report
  • Johnson family commissioned independent autopsy, which determined teen died from 'non-accidental blunt force trauma'

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 15:41 EST, 9 October 2013 | UPDATED: 16:41 EST, 9 October 2013


A former FBI agent has claimed the death of a young athlete whose body was discovered in a rolled up gym mat was a result of foul play, as newly-obtained video and grisly photos from the scene have emerged.

Authorities ruled Kendrick Johnson's January death an accident after state medical examiners said he tragically suffocated after getting stuck in the wrestling mat while reaching for a sneaker.

But federal agent-turned private investigator Harold Copus believes something more sinister happened in the gym that day and his family are convinced the out-going teen was murdered.

'Someone murdered him,' Kendrick's father Kenneth Johnson said. 'They should be in jail.'

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

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Blood streaks: Newly obtained images taken by sheriff's investigators after Kendrick Johnson was found dead in January have raised questions about what really happened

Copus added to CNN: 'I don't believe this was an accident. I think this young man met with foul play.'

The 15-minute video and nearly 700 photos were taken by investigators from Lowndes Country sheriff's office in the immediate aftermath of Kendrick's death.

The teen's face was bloated with pooled blood, and blood was also soaked in his dreadlocks and on the floor.

 

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There were more streaks of blood on a nearby wall but investigators say this didn't belong to Johnson. A pair of orange and black sneakers were found a few yards from Kendrick's body, according to CNN.

Kendrick's father believes authorities are hiding what they know.

'They know something happened in that gym, and they don't want it to come out,' he said.

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Sneaker: A sneaker, pictured, found just yards from where Johnson's body was found was not taken for potential evidence

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Hoodie: Likewise a hoodie that has a blood-like mark on the sleeve was left by investigators


The shoes were splattered with red though authorities denied this was blood and therefore didn't collect the shoes as evidence, the TV network reported. A hoodie was also left at the scene.

The discarded potential evidence shocked Copus, who is now running checks on the items to determine who they belong to.

'If you're running a crime scene, then you're going to say "That's potential evidence." Obviously, we're going to check this out and find out who does it belong to,' he said.

In September, the Justice Department refused to open a civil rights investigation into Johnson's death.

But federal prosecutors in south Georgia are reviewing the video and photographs to determine whether a separate investigation is necessary, the U.S. attorney's office in Macon told CNN.

Life cut short: Johnson was found Friday after going missing a day earlier.

Life cut short: Kendrick Johnson, 17, was found dead in January inside the school gym after going missing a day earlier

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WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT These gruesome photos handed to CNN by the Johnson family attorney show Kendrick's body wrapped in the mat (left), and his swollen, grotesquely misshapen face (right)

For Johnson's father, the evidence is clear.

Last month, the family began asking questions about a group of students who were recorded on security cameras heading into the gym moments after their son, on the day he was killed.

His body was discovered on the morning of January 11 in the high school's gym after his parents reported him missing the night before. 

Now, attorney Chevene King, who represents the boy's family, has sent the new autopsy report cited by CNN to the U.S. Department of Justice-Civil Rights Division, the GBI, the U.S. Attorney for Georgia’s Middle District and the Lowndes County Coroner for review.

The next step in the case would be to call a coroner's inquest to decide the cause of death in a process resembling a grand jury.

After noticing inconsistencies in the first autopsy report, the Johnson family asked a judge for permission to exhume their son's body and conduct another autopsy - a request that was granted in May.

Kendrick's body was scrutinized June 15 by the Florida-based forensic expert Dr William Anderson, who concluded that the teenager died from blunt force trauma to the right neck and soft tissues near the carotid artery, 'consistent with inflicted injury.'

King said the findings appear consistent with a possible assault.

The results of the independent autopsy appear to dovetail with the report written by EMTs who first examined Kendrick’s' body on January 11, 2013, which indicated that they observed 'bruising' to the right side jaw.

Evidence: This sneaker was discovered next to the teen's body in the gym. It has been suggested that he fell into the mat while reaching for it

Evidence: This sneaker was discovered next to the teen's body in the gym. Police shut the case after claiming Kendrick fell into the mat while reaching for the shoe

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Inconsistencies: Kendrick's parents insist that their son, whose shoulders were 19 inches across, could not have even fit into the opening of the rolled-up mat

The first responders' findings, however, were later refuted by subsequent reports filed by the crime lab that handled the case and the GBI's autopsy, which cited no significant injuries.

A spokesperson for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said the agency stands by its report after reviewing the findings of the independent autopsy.

King said Johnson's family doesn't expect neither the GBI nor the sheriff’s office to take an objective second look at the case.

JOHNSON FAMILY'S UNANSWERED QUESTIONS:

Kendrick Johnson's parents have always questioned the official version of what happened to their son on the day of January 10, 2012, rejecting the idea that the athletic boy accidentally suffocated after being lodged in a rolled-up mat while retrieving a shoe. 

The parents suggested that their son, who was 5-foot-10, would not have tried to reach all the way down into a mat to grab his sneakers since the mat was about 6 feet tall and there was no way his arms could reach the bottom.

Another key factor is the width of the opening of the rolled-up mat measuring 14-and-a-half inches across. The parents claim Kendrick, whose shoulders measured 19 inches across, would not have even fit into the opening.

Also, a question has been raised as to why none of the people who visited the gym that day spotted Johnson’s legs sticking out of the mat, which would have been the case had he fallen in with his arms stretched out.

It is likely the boy would not have lost consciousness at once, leading those skeptical of the investigators' version of events to wonder: why didn't Kendrick scream for help, and if he did, why none of the students who came to the gym to play basketball heard his voice? 

The sneakers, which are at the heart of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s theory, present another problem. If Kendrick fell while reaching to retrieve his shoes from the bottom of the mat, why did they end up lodged between his lower body and the inside of the mat, as if they fell in after him?

Droplets of blood, which did not belong to Kendrick, were found on a wall not far from the teen's body, but according to the Johnsons, no effort has been made to determine whose it was and how it got there.

Perhaps the biggest gap of all in the story is the mystery video showing Kendrick walking into the gym on the day of his death, followed by several other students. The sheriff's department has not released the footage, citing the fact that it depicts minors.

‘We have really no recourse but to see whether or not the Justice Department or U.S. attorney's office would come in and reopen the investigation,’ King said.

The sheriff and his detectives spent nearly four months investigating Johnson's death before closing the case in early May.

From the very beginning, Johnson's father, Kenneth, has been claiming that his son was murdered.

'I want to express how did my son go missing during school hours in broad daylight?

The teen's aunt, Anastasia Roe, said her nephew was a good student but ran into problems with another student last year, FoxNews.com reported.

But the GBI autopsy found no signs of a struggle, officials said.

It has been suggested by investigators that Johnson may have been reaching for a shoe that had fallen into the mat.

A shoe was found at the scene, but it is not known whether it belonged to Kendrick.

'We feel like he was trying to reach a shoe that was down that hole,' the sheriff told the Valdosta Daily Times, adding that no one knows for sure why he reached into the mat 'but him and the good Lord.'

Kendrick Johnson, a 5-foot-10, 160-pound multi-talented athlete, attended classes on the morning of January 10, 2012. Just after 1pm, he entered the gym, never to come out alive.

Some 8 hours later, his mother, Jackie Johnson, started to worry that her son did failed to make it home, Grantland.com reported. At around 11pm, she drove to and from school looking for her son.

After midnight, the mother called 911 to report him missing, and was told by a dispatcher that he was probably 'just out with some fast-tailed girl.'

But Mrs Johnson knew that her son always called if he was planning to stay out late. At around 4am, she called police again and prayed through the night.

At around 8.30am the following morning, Jackie drove to school to ask around about her son. She was sitting in a guidance counselor office when she heard the fateful words on the phone: 'the found a body in the gym.'

According to the sheriff’s department, a school security camera captured the teen entering the gym at 1.09pm. What happened next remains unclear.

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Murder: Kendrick's father, pictured this week, believes his son was murdered

Second try: The Johnson family asked for and received permission to exhume their son's body for another autopsy in June

Second try: The Johnson family asked for and received permission to exhume their son's body for another autopsy in June

Harrowing discovery: The teen's body was found in the old gym at Lowndes High School in the south Georgia town of Valdosta

Harrowing discovery: The teen's body was found in the old gym at Lowndes High School in the south Georgia town of Valdosta

There was a gym class afterward and basketball practice in the gym that evening. Nobody found Johnson's body until the next morning.

The sheriff told The Valdosta Daily Times on May 3 that students who didn't have lockers kept personal belongings such as gym shoes on top of rolled-up wrestling mats left propped up behind the gym bleachers.

Investigators found some of Johnson's books and one tennis shoe near the body and believe they tumbled from atop the mat when a gym coach frantically pulled it over trying to free Johnson after students spotted his feet.

‘We did everything we knew to do, and this is a tragic accident,’ Prine told the newspaper in May. ‘But that's all it was - an accident.’

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Enter your commentI am so sorry for your loss. Even though I don't know you or your son, as a parent, just reading this makes me so sad. Just know that there are people who valued your son and want you to find the justice that you and Kendrick deserve. I can't imagine the agony of hearing that your son has been victimized. Not once, but two times. The feeling that he was nothing to the people who did this, when he was everything to you. Please find strength in your quest for justice and knowing that your son would want you to one day also find the strength to smile, especially when you think of him : )

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??? To lazy to investigate

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This kid was murdered. Period. Someone out there know exactly what happened. I pray to God that every second of their life, their conscience bothers them to where it's unbearable and they'd have the courage to speak out..before Karma gets to them and make their whole, future family pays for it all. Poor guy..I've had you in my thoughts for months since I first read about this horrible death months ago..Rest In Peace man.

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17 year old found in a rolled up gym mat, MAY have been murdered ? Seriously??!! Well he didn't kill himself then get inside the mat and roll it up, now did he??!!

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