This Georgia Teen Was Found Dead In A Gym Mat At His High School, But His Death Was Initially Deemed An Accident, And His Family Has Not Stopped Fighting For Justice (2024)

In 2013, Kendrick Johnson was a successful 17-year-old student-athlete attending Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia.

Also referred to as “KJ,” he participated in a number of sports – including football, basketball, and track.

At home, he had a tight-knit relationship with his family, who regarded him as a humble young man.

Yet, in January 2013, Kendrick tragically lost his life after he was found dead inside a gym mat located in his high school’s gym.

It all began on January 10, 2013, when he was last seen walking into the school gym at approximately 1:27 p.m. This specific gym was referred to as the “old gym” and was used as a storage place for oversized wrestling mats since Lowndes High School had two gymnasiums at the time.

Surveillance camera footage captured a different student entering the gym prior to Kendrick. It was later confirmed that this student had just been heading to class.

Then, Kendrick could be seen walking along the gym’s right side – where the oversized wrestling mats resided. At that point, he exited the security camera’s frame.

Right around the same time, the high school’s wrestling team was actually traveling to a tournament in Macon, Georgia. A total of 25 wrestlers had boarded the bus for the trip.

Kendrick never arrived home after entering the gym that day, though, and at 12:30 a.m. on January 11, his mother, Jackie Johnson, contacted the police to report him missing.

His body was found on January 11, wrapped inside of a wrestling mat in the old gym. One student reportedly realized a pair of socks had been sticking out of the rolled-up mat, which is how Kendrick was discovered.

Law enforcement was quickly called to investigate; meanwhile, Lowndes High School was placed in lockdown.

It wasn’t until May 2, 2013, that the first autopsy – conducted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation – ruled Kendrick’s death as an accident. The autopsy stated that, while trying to reach a shoe at the bottom of the standing rolled-up gym mat, Kendrick fell. His cause of death was determined to be positional asphyxia.

But Kendrick’s loved ones suspected that he was actually murdered due to reportedly conflicting information provided by paramedics.

So, a judge ultimately allowed the Johnson family to exhume his body on June 6, 2013, to conduct a second autopsy. They hired a forensic pathologist from Orlando, Florida, to perform it.

Additionally, one month later, the Johnson family filed a wrongful death suit against the Lowndes County Board of Education. The lawsuit alleged that the school board improperly investigated an incident that reportedly took place between Kendrick and one of his peers.

About three months after the request for a second autopsy was granted, the results were ready. According to the forensic pathologist, “unexplained, apparent non-accidental, blunt force trauma” was the cause of Kendrick’s death. The report also revealed that Kendrick’s internal organs were missing. In their place, newspaper filled his body cavity.

In the wake of these findings, Kendrick’s family requested that authorities rule his death as a homicide.

A Georgia judge also ordered that the surveillance video from the high school gym, along with numerous investigative documents, be released on October 30, 2013. The next day, former U.S. Attorney Michael Moore joined the investigation into Kendrick’s death.

Then, in 2014, an anonymous email claimed to have information on who killed Kendrick – two of his classmates. The email sparked further investigation into the case, but on March 20, 2014, the confession was deemed a hoax. After authorities identified the sender of the email and interviewed them, the sender redacted their statement and claimed they were just rumors.

Five years after Kendrick died, in 2018, his family filed again – requesting that his body be exhumed for a third autopsy. This report, completed on November 15, 2018, found that Kendrick’s cause of death was non-accidental, blunt force trauma to his right neck and right thorax.

To this day, Kendrick’s loved ones continue fighting for justice. In October 2019, the Johnson family petitioned to have his case reopened. This request was granted in March 2021.

Most recently, on September 19, 2023, Kendrick’s family filed a $1 billion federal lawsuit against both the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office.

The lawsuit alleges that both agencies conspired together to fabricate facts and false claims surrounding his death.

The lawsuit also called Kendrick’s death being deemed accidental a “farce,” a “masquerade of an investigation,” and a “physically impossible narrative,” according to The Telegraph.

January 10, 2024, marked 11 years since Kendrick’s death. His family released balloons at his final resting place and refused to stop fighting.

“People keep saying we are never going to get justice, but we are going to get justice because we are demanding it,” said Kendrick’s mother, Jackie.

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