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

[vlpate]

When standing they're standing upright I just can't imagine anyone wanting to or attempting to.



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Hard for me to imagine someone thinking the mat was a nifty place to stuff a body.

 

[Linda7NJ]

How else would you get your shoes if they were in there?

It's not like he was shoeless. He had shoes on his feet when he walked on there. If it were me... I'd wait until someone could give me a hand pulling it down.


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[Linda7NJ]

Hard for me to imagine someone thinking the mat was a nifty place to stuff a body.

I agree

The whole horrible thing is unimaginable!


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[Karmady]

It's not like he was shoeless. He had shoes on his feet when he walked on there. If it were me... I'd wait until someone could give me a hand pulling it down.


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I wouldn't do it either, as a middle-aged woman. But I can definitely see my son doing it. For sure. He wouldn't think twice, imo.

 

[Linda7NJ]

I wouldn't do it either, as a middle-aged woman. But I can definitely see my son doing it. For sure. He wouldn't think twice, imo.

I just can't see mine doing it. Mine is the reason I became interested in this case. He read the CNN article with the photos and immediately said no way it was an accident.
And mine has done his share of really stupid stuff.


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[Yoda]

From Yoda's suggested link to gym - these mats look like a kid could wiggle his way into one.

Thanks Salem - edited to add pic w/o minors. I know some can't play videos on phones, etc.

For a minute I could picture him getting in partially to get his shoes and then a couple of kids tipping it upright, but with the weight of the mat and the weight of KJ it would take several people to tip it vertical. Jmo

 

[Karmady]

I just can't see mine doing it. Mine is the reason I became interested in this case. He read the CNN article with the photos and immediately said no way it was an accident.
And mine has done his share of really stupid stuff.


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I'll run the general scenario past him and see what he says. I feel certain he would do it in a heartbeat. His thoughts tend to focus on the next few milliseconds lol

 

[EmiLove832]

For a minute I could picture him getting in partially to get his shoes and then a couple of kids tipping it upright, but with the weight of the mat and the weight of KJ it would take several people to tip it vertical. Jmo

I agree. I feel this scenario makes the most sense.

The kids in the hallway do appear to say something to him, if you watch the video one of the boys turns toward him then both the boys turn his direction and watch him go into the gym. After that they walk to the gym door, which would be the same time KJ is running inside. Is he running because he is in a hurry to change his shoes? Or because he is running from them?

Seeing the photos of the mats confuse me even more, I'm not sure if it was something I read or just made up in my mind but wasn't there bleachers or some structure next to the rolled mats? (if they were vertical) How would he have gotten on top of the mats without something to climb up first? Totally not what I pictured.

My heart breaks for this family. They deserve a real answer on what happened to their child.

 

[noZme]

Mighty talented those law enforcement folks...qualified to determine manner of death..... Like it's their job to do so ...
Why even have a coroner ?


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The position of County Coroner in Georgia is a nothing more than a popularity contest for a paper-pusher. It is not the same as a medical examiner. Most coroners are funeral home directors & the running joke is being called to sign the death certificate is a good for business. "Hey, I am already here, want me to take him to MY funeral home?"

 

[Yoda]

I agree. I feel this scenario makes the most sense.

The kids in the hallway do appear to say something to him, if you watch the video one of the boys turns toward him then both the boys turn his direction and watch him go into the gym. After that they walk to the gym door, which would be the same time KJ is running inside. Is he running because he is in a hurry to change his shoes? Or because he is running from them?

Seeing the photos of the mats confuse me even more, I'm not sure if it was something I read or just made up in my mind but wasn't there bleachers or some structure next to the rolled mats? (if they were vertical) How would he have gotten on top of the mats without something to climb up first? Totally not what I pictured.

My heart breaks for this family. They deserve a real answer on what happened to their child.

The bleachers are to the left and cropped out due to the kids in the frame. This video was also an entire year before KJ's death.

 

[Yoda]

Go to YouTube and search either rolled in mat or stuck in mat. I watched several videos of kids getting stuck in mats. One even showed boys on top of vertical mats identical to lowndes', wiggling their way out.

 

[vlpate]

I agree. I feel this scenario makes the most sense.

The kids in the hallway do appear to say something to him, if you watch the video one of the boys turns toward him then both the boys turn his direction and watch him go into the gym. After that they walk to the gym door, which would be the same time KJ is running inside. Is he running because he is in a hurry to change his shoes? Or because he is running from them?

Seeing the photos of the mats confuse me even more, I'm not sure if it was something I read or just made up in my mind but wasn't there bleachers or some structure next to the rolled mats? (if they were vertical) How would he have gotten on top of the mats without something to climb up first? Totally not what I pictured.

My heart breaks for this family. They deserve a real answer on what happened to their child.

There is no video footage, that I've seen, of those boys that were standing outside, going into the gym.

 

[Yoda]

And plenty of examples of kids getting stuck and requiring several others to get them out.
Please remove in not okay
http://youtu.be/xiqfACjebvk

 

[vlpate]

And plenty of examples of kids getting stuck and requiring several others to get them out.
Please remove in not okay
http://youtu.be/xiqfACjebvk

No way could she have backed out of that.

 

[Yoda]

No way could she have backed out of that.

I've just spent the last hour watching teens climb in, roll in, and get stuck in mats. Getting in looked easy, getting out looked difficult.
Jmo

 

[BeginnersLuck]

And plenty of examples of kids getting stuck and requiring several others to get them out.
Please remove in not okay
http://youtu.be/xiqfACjebvk

One thing I noticed was that the girl managed to get in the mat with no problem. Once she was in it though she couldn't get out. She says her hips were stuck. I've seen many examples on the internet, where people have gotten stuck in all sorts of positions and some in real life. For example kids getting their heads stuck in between the stair railings. Logically, you would think if something goes in one way it should be able to come back out the same way it went in. But as witnessed, that's not always the case.

If he was reaching with his arm that would give him approximately an extra 3 feet in length on top of his height. So he may have thought he could reach it with the extended arm length and be able to back out and/or he lost balance and fell further in when he was trying to reach.

 

[gxm]

Who knows?? In 2 hours? That is not enough time to determine anything unless they have the whole actual event on video.

And they don't. It is just a travesty at this point.

The investigation lasted four months so I seriously doubt LE told the family that it was an accident in 2 hours as they hadn't even finished processing the scene. My guess is they, or more likely the school, speculated that it appeared to be an accident but they wouldn't know for sure until the investigation was completed. JMO. OMO. MOO.

BBM.

"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 authorities took to complete the four-month probe, all of which culminated Thursday into a completed autopsy and a timeline of the event surrounding the final hours of the life of Kendrick Johnson, 17."

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

 

[gxm]

One thing I noticed was that the girl managed to get in the mat with no problem. Once she was in it though she couldn't get out. She says her hips were stuck. I've seen many examples on the internet, where people have gotten stuck in all sorts of positions and some in real life. For example kids getting their heads stuck in between the stair railings. Logically, you would think if something goes in one way it should be able to come back out the same way it went in. But as witnessed, that's not always the case.

If he was reaching with his arm that would give him approximately an extra 3 feet in length on top of his height. So he may have thought he could reach it with the extended arm length and be able to back out and/or he lost balance and fell further in when he was trying to reach.

KJ was 5' 10" so he'd have an approx. 8' 10" total reach. I agree with you. I think he thought he could reach the shoes but he slipped too far in and got stuck.

 

[Steely Dan]

From Yoda's suggested link to gym - these mats look like a kid could wiggle his way into one.

Thanks Salem - edited to add pic w/o minors. I know some can't play videos on phones, etc.

Not to me. I have yet to see how tall and wide Kendrick was in order to make a determination. He was a basketball player.

Is there any reason to believe LE did a bad job investigating this case?

[video=youtube;SRPg9RJYLfk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRPg9RJYLfk[/video]

How did the police determine at the scene it wasn't blood on the sneakers without testing it in a lab? I guess you could look at it and think it's paint or something, but then the question is why not collect it.

The blood on the door is a lot greater in quantity than the written reports made it sound. Why didn't the police try to find the DNA match and ask them how it got there? I can't believe that much blood would end up that high without someone sustaining a serious injury that would have been reported. Also, if it had been there for quite some time the school has the worst janitor.

How else would you get your shoes if they were in there?

Tilt the mat. However his body was found inside the mat, with the mat standing up. If the shoe was stuck inside the mat that would make me believe it was wrapped too tight for someone to fit into it.

Hard for me to imagine someone thinking the mat was a nifty place to stuff a body.

Where else could they put it? They couldn't carry it out into the hall. JMO

Go to YouTube and search either rolled in mat or stuck in mat. I watched several videos of kids getting stuck in mats. One even showed boys on top of vertical mats identical to lowndes', wiggling their way out.

I logged out of Youtube to keep from skewing the results, maybe something different will come up for others.

When I typed in stuck in mat this is what came up; http://www.youtube.com/results?sear...2j1.10.0...0.0...1ac.1.11.youtube.A4Y2nXuQkPw

This is what came up for rolled in mat; http://www.youtube.com/results?sear....5j2.7.0...0.0...1ac.1.11.youtube._5Dgg6srX4s

This is what came up for kid stuck in mat; http://www.youtube.com/results?sear...9j4.13.0...0.0...1ac.1.11.youtube.i6cEHBlXSWE

Kid rolled in mat; http://www.youtube.com/results?sear...1j3.14.0...0.0...1ac.1.11.youtube.LU2eIm7vw0I

I don't remember what I typed to find this one;

Stuck in a mat - YouTube

In the following link this cheerleader looks a lot smaller than Kendrick appears to be. I forget what I typed in to find it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiqfACjebvk&feature=youtu.be

Kendrick was a basketball player.

http://i.i.cbsi.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim2/2013/10/31/final_244x183.jpg

This kid unrolled herself after the others, it appears, has already rolled her up. This begs the question of why didn't he fight to tip the mat and unroll himself?

Claire rolled in a mat haha - YouTube

And plenty of examples of kids getting stuck and requiring several others to get them out.
Please remove in not okay
http://youtu.be/xiqfACjebvk

Your video is the same one I found.

I've just spent the last hour watching teens climb in, roll in, and get stuck in mats. Getting in looked easy, getting out looked difficult.
Jmo

Can you post some more of those videos? TIA

 

[Steely Dan]

The investigation lasted four months so I seriously doubt LE told the family that it was an accident in 2 hours as they hadn't even finished processing the scene. My guess is they, or more likely the school, speculated that it appeared to be an accident but they wouldn't know for sure until the investigation was completed. JMO. OMO. MOO.

BBM.

"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 authorities took to complete the four-month probe, all of which culminated Thursday into a completed autopsy and a timeline of the event surrounding the final hours of the life of Kendrick Johnson, 17."

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

KJ was 5' 10" so he'd have an approx. 8' 10" total reach. I agree with you. I think he thought he could reach the shoes but he slipped too far in and got stuck.

I'm not trying to be snarky, but how does someone suffer blunt force trauma from falling into a mat?