Kendrick Johnson’s autopsy will be reopened, Georgia sheriff says

Kendrick Johnson’s autopsy will be reopened, Georgia sheriff says

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The body of Johnson, 17, was found upside down in the carpet at Lowndes County High School in January 2013. Local investigators ruled that his death was an accident.

“It’s been eight long years,” Johnson’s mother, Jacquelyn Johnson, told CNN on Tuesday. “I feel hopeful.”

The initial investigation concluded that Johnson accidentally slipped in the middle of the mat while grabbing a shoe and getting stuck. An autopsy conducted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation determined that the cause of Johnson’s death was accidental suffocation.

But in an autopsy by a pathologist hired by Johnson’s family, it was determined that the cause of death was ‘unexplained, seemingly non-accidental, blunt trauma’ in the neck.
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Paulk, who was a retired former sheriff at the time of Johnson’s death, said Tuesday he was “not sure when this situation would occur” that it was an accident.

“If there are questions – and it’s legal – I have to know the answers myself. The only way I’m going to know is to look at the evidence myself,” Paulk said.

After a two-and-a-half-year federal investigation, investigators found that there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that someone or a group of people had intentionally violated Kendrick Johnson’s civil rights or committed any other criminal criminal offense. The Justice Department said in a 2016 statement.
Paulk retired in 2017 and in April 2019 he requested that the information gathered during the federal investigation be disclosed to his department.

“It is extremely important that we have access to any information about the case of KJ Johnson that no federal agency has previously disclosed,” Paulk wrote in a letter to the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Georgia.

Federal investigators rejected the request in July 2019.

Paulk attributed a visit from the Johnsons in November 2020 to federal investigators for the final consent of the request.

“We’re not asking for favors. We’re not asking for anyone to lie to us. We just want the truth to come out,” Johnson’s father, Kenneth Johnson, told CNN.

Paulk said his office received 17 boxes of written and electronic evidence from the federal investigation.

“The investigation included interviews with nearly 100 people; reviewing tens of thousands of emails and text messages; reviewing surveillance videos of Lowndes High School; and analyzing other available information regarding the events of January 10-11, 2013, “Justice Department officials said in their 2016 statement.

Paulk said some of the original investigators will be used along with some new investigators for the reopening case. The first interview was conducted on Monday, according to Paulk.

The investigation can take up to six months.

“My plan is to see if there are any discrepancies between the reports,” said Paulk, who is leading the investigation.

He added that he had no inclination to the matter.

“I hope he’s doing the right thing,” Kenneth Johnson said of Paulk. “I just hope the truth comes out.”

Highnd High School is located in Valdosta, about 25 miles from the Florida border. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the province has an estimated population of 117,000 inhabitants.

CNN’s Steve Almasy contributed to this report.

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