KENDRICK JOHNSON: Death of teen at Lowndes High School in Valdosta, GA - 2013 - murder or accidental?

Johnson’s family has long-suspected the teen was killed by classmates and theorized that their parents conspired with school and law enforcement officials to cover up his death. If authentic, the audio may be one of the first significant clues to emerge since the case’s reopening earlier this month by the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators declined to comment on what's said in the audio but confirmed they’re now tracking down the individual who allegedly sold the tape to Johnson’s mother.

'A Burden Like Hell': New Audio May Contain Confession In Kendrick Johnson’s Mysterious Death | Oxygen Official Site

A recording that reportedly contains an emotional confession of an individual who may have been involved in the suspicious 2013 death of teenager Kendrick Johnson in Georgia is now being vetted by authorities, police said this week.

www.oxygen.com

 

[GrandmaBear]

I've read that he resigned with no explanation and I've also read that he retired. Either way I haven't seen any evidence that the FBI agent committed any criminal acts.

I haven't either. And if you have read both resigned and retired then there is reporting for us... Hard to know what is fact.

Again, I'm not saying anything was corrupt or covered up, just that there are a lot of questions as compared to many, many cases. But of course this also was an unusual type of death and circumstance.

 

[GrandmaBear]

I have started reading the 16 page synopsis. Not far in and not sure I will make it through any tonight (early a.m.) but in looking for a date I went back to the first page of this thread. I know you lost a lot losing your last site. So this one isn't years old. But it is interesting to read the comments even here. I didn't go past the first page but I wish I had time to. I never watched Ash's things on this case but they are posted and linked. Most, some still posting now, thought it was foul play or leaned that way for sure. And bittersweet, there is a post from Skitt. Which I do agree with. Didn't "know" her as long as some but may she RIP.

Anyhow, hadn't had a chance but some times it is worth going to revisit including our own comments. i am going to try to read part of this synopsis at least as I won't get time necessarily I can count on in coming days. I would hope I can reread at some point all of this thread and go into the links.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Okay. I am up to only page four and just starting the "autopsies" category and I have major problems and questions in each category leading up to it.

Again, I am NOT looking for it and was hoping this really would satisfy questions. I have many pages to go but so far, no, it actually causes more questions...

 

[GrandmaBear]

Oh Lord, I have to stop. I am up to the "Observations Where the Where the Body Was Found". I read part of that. I won't even be able to recount the questions, new ones even, this causes. All pages, every single category. And no, I didn't put the two "wheres" in the above sentence. I know that is just typos but honestly who proofread this serious report of a case this was supposed to answer questions to? No biggie because that is just a heading with a screw up/typo. Every single caption so far? The info under it? Creates more questions than I already had.

Maybe by the end it will satisfy but boy I am seriously doubting that... From the first paragraph or two yesterday with the sheriff who wasn't a sheriff then but served six terms or is on the sixth... I am giving it every chance but I hope I get time to go into the problems so far with each "topic" addressed...

But again, maybe by the end... Maybe it will all satisfy and answer. So far it has created new questions...

Just saying...

 

[GrandmaBear]

I actually didn't realize until now how much was renderings of drawings, measurements, etc.

I'm not trying to be whatever way but this satisfied anyone? Oh Lord, it makes it all the more questionable.

This was a serious review? I'm sorry but it is a joke. Reading Skitt's post way back on page one and then seeing this...

There is so much I wouldn't even know where to start...

Not proof but answers? No way. More questions. They didn't answer anything.

I check myself by sometimes throwing a case past someone who doesn't follow crime as we/I do. I did that here. Not with this synopsis yet just the bare facts of the gym mat and what allegedly happened... Nope.

If it weren't late (early) there are so many new questions I would not know where to start...

I can't blame one bit his family. This is supposed to satisfy? It wasn't even a 16 page report. Or even a 12. Or an 8. Space and a half or double spaced with big gaps...

I was at least starting to consider some things that made sense, not many, but this sent me right back to square one and beyond actually. Nope.

 

[Regina]

That makes no sense to me, but teens aren't noted for making sense

I just meant that I don't know for certain why he didn't use a locker, but I think surely that the old gym/mats were of close proximity of the field house, which is my understanding of where his next class was to have been.

 

[Guess Who]

I just meant that I don't know for certain why he didn't use a locker, but I think surely that the old gym/mats were of close proximity of the field house, which is my understanding of where his next class was to have been.

putting the shoes IN the mats is what makes no sense to me. why not BY the mats? Why not on top of the mats? IN makes absolutely no sense to me as a place to keep them.

 

[GrandmaBear]

putting the shoes IN the mats is what makes no sense to me. why not BY the mats? Why not on top of the mats? IN makes absolutely no sense to me as a place to keep them.

It truly doesn't if they just kept them there for the period they were there. It makes more sense if they kept them there through the day or through the week so no one would see or take them. However, that really doesn't make sense either as how would they know the mats wouldn't be used by others/other classes and their shoes end up who knows where...

This is making less sense to me now than when this case popped up again.

I read the synopsis and I'm sorry if anyone disagrees but I almost want to call it a fluff piece. I found nothing substantial about it or of note, other than a lot to note of what they did not cover and the more questions it raised.

It does say to look at the whole investigative file or some such or that anyone who does would conclude the same or something like that. My words/paraphrasing. That's fine and dandy too but they could have offered some of it or even better references to it...

No way do I have the time because so many darned questions came to mind reading each part/heading to go into it all right now. I hope to get to some of it.

First they "police" themselves, apparently make a big todo about this review (or did they) and then produce imo a big piece of nothing.

Honestly? I'm both mortified and insulted they think people are this stupid. More like maybe they think people powerless... Seen that before...

All aren't going to agree, I'm sure but to me it is just blatant. They haven't answered anything.

 

[Regina]

putting the shoes IN the mats is what makes no sense to me. why not BY the mats? Why not on top of the mats? IN makes absolutely no sense to me as a place to keep them.

Well, behind a mat or inside, either way is out of sight, and I don't know whether the athletics staff were aware students did that, but I doubt they'd approve of the idea. I'd expect that the staff would want students to keep away from/stay off the mats, wouldn't you?

 

[Guess Who]

Well, behind a mat or inside, either way is out of sight, and I don't know whether the athletics staff were aware students did that, but I doubt they'd approve of the idea. I'd expect that the staff would want students to keep away from/stay off the mats, wouldn't you?

exactly, that's why when they were trying to state that this was a common practice, I couldn't believe that it was even allowed - for this very reason! I just can't fathom how it became "common", let alone even one or two kids thinking it was a good idea. Seems like a huge liability and now we know why, too.

I see the more probable answer was that a prank was pulled and somebody threw them in instead of him actually "storing" them there. I think that is where the "not enough evidence for criminal charges" comes into play. This makes much more sense to me.

 

[Ranch]

Well, behind a mat or inside, either way is out of sight, and I don't know whether the athletics staff were aware students did that, but I doubt they'd approve of the idea. I'd expect that the staff would want students to keep away from/stay off the mats, wouldn't you?

Whether it was approved or a bad idea the fact is students hid their shoes in the mats and that is the genesis of this tragedy. If there was no history of Kendrick hiding his shoes in the mats then finding his body stuck in one would be very suspicious. That's not the case here. His gym shoes were in the mat that he was stuck in.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Well, behind a mat or inside, either way is out of sight, and I don't know whether the athletics staff were aware students did that, but I doubt they'd approve of the idea. I'd expect that the staff would want students to keep away from/stay off the mats, wouldn't you?

Maybe nowadays with the overconcern and liability but I'm not so sure. Heck when we were in school, kids sat on them awaiting their turn in gym or watching a game from sidelines or one end of the gym, etc. Dangling their legs. Crawled over the tops. And honestly there was not one thing that seemed dangerous about it and it wouldn't now but for this case. And that plays into this. You don't just fall into the hole in a mat all the way down normally and I think there is little to no risk of that. I'd worry about a small toddler certainly. So without a shoe at the bottom or a reason, this wouldn't even be an iota believable imo.

 

[GrandmaBear]

exactly, that's why when they were trying to state that this was a common practice, I couldn't believe that it was even allowed - for this very reason! I just can't fathom how it became "common", let alone even one or two kids thinking it was a good idea. Seems like a huge liability and now we know why, too.

I see the more probable answer was that a prank was pulled and somebody threw them in instead of him actually "storing" them there. I think that is where the "not enough evidence for criminal charges" comes into play. This makes much more sense to me.

I think too that is one of the more likely scenarios and one of the least sinister ones. I haven't seen one thing yet though to indicate there were shoes at the bottom near that end of the mat. That synopsis proved nothing to me.

 

[Regina]

Maybe nowadays with the overconcern and liability but I'm not so sure. Heck when we were in school, kids sat on them awaiting their turn in gym or watching a game from sidelines or one end of the gym, etc. Dangling their legs. Crawled over the tops. And honestly there was not one thing that seemed dangerous about it and it wouldn't now but for this case. And that plays into this. You don't just fall into the hole in a mat all the way down normally and I think there is little to no risk of that. I'd worry about a small toddler certainly. So without a shoe at the bottom or a reason, this wouldn't even be an iota believable imo.

Well, I don't know which circumstances you've accepted (your word, lol!), so, do you believe that he hid his shoes for athletics in a blue mat, and do you believe that he was on his way to get those shoes when he was last seen?

 

[GrandmaBear]

Well, I don't know which circumstances you've accepted (your word, lol!), so, do you believe that he hid his shoes for athletics in a blue mat, and do you believe that he was on his way to get those shoes when he was last seen?

Lol, I don't know what I said about circumstances, I am more than frazzled today and doing 10 different things in different direction and it isn't going well. Going through five or more years of bank records for one, doesn't that sound like fun? And that's just one and then I get distracted from it, go back to it and have to get my head around it again. Oh well. Off topic.

Honestly? No. I think it more likely he was rolled up in the mat with his shoes or the shoes shoved in as an afterthought by someone(s). It seems far more logicl to me than he went into a mat head first with nothing YET that shows me there ever WAS a shoe or shoes at the bottom of it (head end). What there is for evidence is two shoes inside on the wrong end with him and two shoes in different places outside the mat all together. That's one of the biggest problems but only one.

When I started thinking back of the mats in school after you or someone above made the post about not allowing kids to play on them or be near, etc., it kind of lingered in my mind. It then tickles my mind that for fun, I'm not sure I don't remember kids rolling kids up in mats, of course head out or instantly unrolling them and maybe, unsure, them getting in trouble for THAT with a gym teacher coming out and telling them to knock off the goofing around, etc. That got me thinking that doing such a thing probably isn't unknown to any kid... Of any generation. And that most have probably if not done it, seen it. Sooo.... That is like lingering in my head a bit now...

Sorry, nothing fits to me. To me their conclusion is like a jigsaw puzzle box that has the pieces of another puzzle inside. The box is the conclusion and the puzzle pieces the facts and evidence or at least what we have seen...

I'm not opposed to the idea there could have been shoes in there but they would have been inside the mat at his head's end. And they aren't.

*Note: My caps and emphasis added aren't directed at you or anyone but are simply to stress the key points here and there.

 

[Guess Who]

Well, I don't know which circumstances you've accepted (your word, lol!), so, do you believe that he hid his shoes for athletics in a blue mat, and do you believe that he was on his way to get those shoes when he was last seen?

My thoughts have gone to somebody else throwing his shoes in there and he was retrieving them. No way even a young teen would think that was a good spot to store their own shoes and go through that several times a week. That makes absolutely no sense even for senseless teens.

That way the wording makes sense, too of "not enough evidence".

 

[Ranch]

My thoughts have gone to somebody else throwing his shoes in there and he was retrieving them. No way even a young teen would think that was a good spot to store their own shoes and go through that several times a week. That makes absolutely no sense even for senseless teens.

That way the wording makes sense, too of "not enough evidence".

Kendrick would put the shoes in an outside mat so he could easily get to them by tilting it. In this case more mats were brought to the gym and the mat with his shoes was behind a bunch of other mats.

 

[Regina]

My thoughts have gone to somebody else throwing his shoes in there and he was retrieving them. No way even a young teen would think that was a good spot to store their own shoes and go through that several times a week. That makes absolutely no sense even for senseless teens.

That way the wording makes sense, too of "not enough evidence".

It makes more sense to me than leaving them on top of a mat, or anywhere else in plain sight where they'd probably find them scattered if not stolen.
But regardless of whether you can make sense of it, it's what students reported that some students would do, and so I take it that you think those students must have lied?

 

[GrandmaBear]

My thoughts have gone to somebody else throwing his shoes in there and he was retrieving them. No way even a young teen would think that was a good spot to store their own shoes and go through that several times a week. That makes absolutely no sense even for senseless teens.

That way the wording makes sense, too of "not enough evidence".

They just don't provide enough info about anything. The scenario you have is one I entertain as well. One of a few.

To me, if he was just in there for a class, was this gym class? It was early in the day so I assume so (can't recall)? Imo, you'd just leave them on a bleacher or out of the way to grab easily, why bother with putting them down inside there even if at that point it was an outside mat. If you are in the gym, they are in sight, you don't need to "hide" them.

What I don't know is they talk of to not "pay" for a locker... Is this a gym locker or a school locker? Because IF he was leaving them there all day, it makes more sense. Let's say he has practice after school. He doesn't want to put them in his school locker or perhaps he doesn't have one or take an extra pair of shoes to the next class. Then he wouldn't leave them on the bleachers or side of the gym in plain sight as he could during gym class. He'd want to "hide" them maybe and keep them out of the way as other people and classes would be in and out between his class and maybe practice later. THEN it makes more sense. But of course I've seen nothing that answers any of this in what I've looked at.

Here is the other problem and it is a big one. So mats were stored there over Christmas making that not an easily accessible mat. Well then why in January AFTER Christmas vacation would he use it in the first place if it were that far back and wasn't usually?? It was already blocked in... It makes NO SENSE. What does make sense is as you say someone threw them in there that far back INTENTIONALLY. At minimum.

Or did he leave them in it from before Christmas vacation and only first needed them again in mid January? They don't say, but I don't think so, that makes NO sense. Schools go back in session in most areas right after New Year's. And that then leads me to why were mats stored over Christmas break still there anyhow?

Nah. At minimum, SOMEONE threw his shoes in there. Scrambled back across the top of the mats to do it maybe... In fun taunting a friend or in meanness and bullying, etc. They probably may not have thought of him going in, just knew they created him a problem of moving a ton of mats to get his shoes or not being able to get them at all.

So I can entertain that scenario as you are and it isn't necessarily like murderously criminal although hiding it and not coming clean is "covering up" or hiding that action...

But then comes the problem of there weren't ANY shoes or evidence of shoes at the bottom of that rolled up mat that we have seen. And the problem becomes his going in head first and ending up like that when no shoes seem to have been there in the first place.

The shoes are, have been all along, and still are even after that synopsis a problem. As are other things.

 

[Ranch]

Timeline of a tragedy

The DNA testing of a speck of blood on the gymnasium wall, 50 feet from where a Lowndes High School student’s body was discovered, was one of many time-consuming steps

www.valdostadailytimes.com

Thursday, Jan. 10

Following the Christmas break, school resumed on Jan. 9. On Jan. 10, Johnson disappeared from video surveillance at approximately 1:09 p.m. after he entered Lowndes High School’s old gymnasium, according to reports. Footage from the school’s motion-controlled camera depicted another student going into the gym ahead of Johnson, but he went in another direction in the gym and authorities confirmed that the student headed straight to the next class.