GA - Kendrick Johnson, 17, Suspicious Death, Jan. 10/11, 2013, #2

[FrayedKnot]

oct 11,2012 trascripts

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now Kendrick`s parents say there`s no way this was a freak accident, and they say, you know, Kendrick always wore his fingernails long. But when cops found his body, head first inside this gym mat, his fingernails were cut very short. They were almost purple. Listen to this. Because look at this. This is unbelievable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When we seen his fingernails that day, we know somebody had cut his nails down to the cuticles.

BLACKWELL: And they were like yours. Your nails are long.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Can we see them? So your nails are much longer than they were in those pictures.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Uh-huh.

BLACKWELL: Why would someone do that? It seems like a minor thing, but why would someone do that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They know Kendrick probably had DNA up under Kendrick`s nails.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Kelly Saindon, former prosecutor, to that point, wow. These with exclusive photos and you see blood there, as well, what looks like blood or something going wrong, very wrong.

I mean, obviously when somebody is fighting back they can scratch. And we all know from watching "CSI" and covering real cases that the assailant`s DNA, skin gets underneath the fingernails. Now suddenly his fingernails are cut very short. What do you make of it?

Down to the cuticles? I think not. :waitasec:

Do you think she meant "quick" and not cuticles?

Either way, they were certainly not "trimmed" as indicated in the autopsy report. They were raggedy like I imagine many teenaged boys' nails are.

 

[iSleuth]

Down to the cuticles? I think not. :waitasec:

Do you think she meant "quick" and not cuticles?

Either way, they were certainly not "trimmed" as indicated in the autopsy report. They were raggedy like I imagine many teenaged boys' nails are.

The parents said long like his dad's above.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Kimberlyd125]

They don't look long in his basketball photo to me.

 

[gxm]

Yes. I find it strange his friends, when interviewed by LE, kept changing where/when they last saw KJ. :waitasec:

I didn't see that at all. There was one misunderstanding (hearsay, i.e., someone saying that someone else had seen KJ when that person hadn't) and there was one girl saying she spoke with him on Thursday afternoon but there was no evidence of that meeting on the school tapes. IMO, she may have misremembered and spoken to him earlier in the week. I'm terrible with timing and often think something happened the day before when it actually happened earlier (and vice versa). I didn't see anything suspicious like someone intentionally lying.

What I would really like to know is if the kid the family is blaming has an alibi. Where was he when KJ went missing? His assault was called in around 1:25 PM which is only about three hours after KJ was found and his mother/guardian was present. It sounds like wasn't in school. It also sounds like his family immediately suspected him when they found out KJ was dead.

 

[gxm]

BL, That's a good description of the consequences of hanging inverted but I just don't buy, at least not yet, that a teenager would dive or crawl into a mat to get shoes when all he had to do was lift the mat. And it would not have been easy to crawl into the mat with the reported dimensions. His hands were at his face, partially covering it according to the autopsy which suggests that they weren't extended over his head (I think). I would also suspect that he would have to extend his arms over his head and slightly skew his shoulders in order to minimize his size. I am still perplexed. In all my years, I have never seen anything like this unless it was a stupid and negligent joke or assault.

He couldn't lift the mat. It was in the center of a bunch of vertically stacked mats. The only way to get to the bottom of it was go in the center or try to squeeze between the stacked mats, both of which involve being inverted. IMO, KJ had a reach of over 8' and he thought he could grab the shoes but he must have lost his balance and slipped farther in than he intended.

 

[Reba]

I can't remember exactly which sports KJ played, but my husband is a basketball coach and would not allow long fingernails on the court due the danger of scratching other players.

 

[vlpate]

Down to the cuticles? I think not. :waitasec:

Do you think she meant "quick" and not cuticles?

Either way, they were certainly not "trimmed" as indicated in the autopsy report. They were raggedy like I imagine many teenaged boys' nails are.

His parents also say he was a sport's star and basketball was one of his sports - hard to imagine he was able to play basketball with long nails - in fact, here's a close up of the basketball pic that's seen everywhere and a still from a video his friend made sometime before his death.

 

[vlpate]

i agree. especially the middle two. maybe bitten off by KJ or torn/broke off during an activity??

i see nothing nefarious in the condition of his nails.

There's also the fingernail cyanosis associated with PA that makes a difference in their appearance.

 

[Karmady]

I didn't see that at all. There was one misunderstanding (hearsay, i.e., someone saying that someone else had seen KJ when that person hadn't) and there was one girl saying she spoke with him on Thursday afternoon but there was no evidence of that meeting on the school tapes. IMO, she may have misremembered and spoken to him earlier in the week. I'm terrible with timing and often think something happened the day before when it actually happened earlier (and vice versa). I didn't see anything suspicious like someone intentionally lying.

What I would really like to know is if the kid the family is blaming has an alibi. Where was he when KJ went missing? His assault was called in around 1:25 PM which is only about three hours after KJ was found and his mother/guardian was present. It sounds like wasn't in school. It also sounds like his family immediately suspected him when they found out KJ was dead.

According to the person who investigated this extensively from the local NAACP in Valdosta, the boy the parents are accusing was on the other side of the school when Kendrick went missing, i.e., the last time he was seen on video entering the gym:


I toured the gym at the high school and spoke to school officials and one school resource officer. The videotapes have been viewed by law enforcement as well as school officials. The hard drives have been entered into evidence. Everyone tells the same story: Kendrick is last seen on videotape running in the direction of the mats, he is never seen on any school camera again. The boy that Kenneth Johnson told me he believes is involved in Kendrick's death was on the other side of the school when Kendrick went missing.

http://mediabugs.org/bugs/kendrick-johnson-racist-murder---valdosta-ga-

 

[vlpate]

Isn't this the kid that wrote the ugly facebook post?

I didn't see that at all. There was one misunderstanding (hearsay, i.e., someone saying that someone else had seen KJ when that person hadn't) and there was one girl saying she spoke with him on Thursday afternoon but there was no evidence of that meeting on the school tapes. IMO, she may have misremembered and spoken to him earlier in the week. I'm terrible with timing and often think something happened the day before when it actually happened earlier (and vice versa). I didn't see anything suspicious like someone intentionally lying.

What I would really like to know is if the kid the family is blaming has an alibi. Where was he when KJ went missing? His assault was called in around 1:25 PM which is only about three hours after KJ was found and his mother/guardian was present. It sounds like wasn't in school. It also sounds like his family immediately suspected him when they found out KJ was dead.

 

[gxm]

Isn't this the kid that wrote the ugly facebook post?

The alleged FB post, yes. I think so but I'm not sure why they think it was written about KJ. It doesn't use KJ's name. And, to the best of my knowledge, it wasn't posted on KJ's FB page. Also, when was it posted? After KJ was found or before? The report doesn't make that clear. I'd also like to know if this is the same kid who had the alleged altercation at a football game. It's interesting that the kid lawyered up which is absolutely his right but it makes it seem like people are afraid of being railroaded on this case. (Page 55 of the Incident Report)

 

[Karmady]

Isn't this the kid that wrote the ugly facebook post?

Do you think they're one and the same? I got the impression that the kid who supposedly made the FB posts is a different kid than the one the parents are accusing.

jmo

 

[x_files]

The alleged FB post, yes. I think so but I'm not sure why they think it was written about KJ. It doesn't use KJ's name. And, to the best of my knowledge, it wasn't posted on KJ's FB page. Also, when was it posted? After KJ was found or before? The report doesn't make that clear. I'd also like to know if this is the same kid who had the alleged altercation at a football game. It's interesting that the kid lawyered up which is absolutely his right but it makes it seem like people are afraid of being railroaded on this case. (Page 55 of the Incident Report)

Why did he feel the need to lawyer up?

 

[gxm]

According to the person who investigated this extensively from the local NAACP in Valdosta, the boy the parents are accusing was on the other side of the school when Kendrick went missing, i.e., the last time he was seen on video entering the gym:


I toured the gym at the high school and spoke to school officials and one school resource officer. The videotapes have been viewed by law enforcement as well as school officials. The hard drives have been entered into evidence. Everyone tells the same story: Kendrick is last seen on videotape running in the direction of the mats, he is never seen on any school camera again. The boy that Kenneth Johnson told me he believes is involved in Kendrick's death was on the other side of the school when Kendrick went missing.

http://mediabugs.org/bugs/kendrick-johnson-racist-murder---valdosta-ga-

Thanks but I'm wondering if the family is accusing more than one boy. The school went on lockdown at around 11:00. How did the boy end up almost four miles away at the 1300 block of North Troup Street around 1:25 (when the assault was called in) unless the school lifted the lockdown and sent all the students home.

What I'd like to know is if the FB post suspect and the football game altercation suspect are the same kid or are they two different boys? And if they're two different boys then which one has the alibi of being across the school when KJ went missing?

I completely understand the need for removing the names of the juveniles, but it makes it hard to tell who's who.

 

[Tulessa]

Does anyone have Kendricks FB page addy?

 

[Karmady]

Thanks but I'm wondering if the family is accusing more than one boy. The school went on lockdown at around 11:00. How did the boy end up almost four miles away at the 1300 block of North Troup Street around 1:25 (when the assault was called in) unless the school lifted the lockdown and sent all the students home.

What I'd like to know is if the FB post suspect and the football game altercation suspect are the same kid or are they two different boys? And if they're two different boys then which one has the alibi of being across the school when KJ went missing?

I completely understand the need for removing the names of the juveniles, but it makes it hard to tell who's who.

I'm wondering the same thing. I just posted that question to vlp above.

 

[gxm]

Why did he feel the need to lawyer up?

I'm guessing (total speculation on my part) that the rumor had spread that KJ was badly beaten. One juvenile "suspect" had already been assaulted in connection to KJ's death. I'm guessing that the boy and his family felt that a scapegoat was being sought so they used their right to retain a lawyer (which is everyone's right and IMO more innocent people should use it). JMO. OMO. MOO.

 

[gxm]

Does anyone have Kendricks FB page addy?

https://www.facebook.com/RipKendrickJohnson

 

[vlpate]

Do you think they're one and the same? I got the impression that the kid who supposedly made the FB posts is a different kid than the one the parents are accusing.

jmo

In this Ebony story there are way more than one suspect. There's also a misrepresentation by Chevene King:

On March 21, Lt. Stryde Jones of the Lowndes County Sheriff's Department contacted the Martin family attorney, "and inquired about the status of his clients, Clark and Chris Martin, providing a statement in either verbal or written form."

There were to be no statements forthcoming.

See page 37

King or Webster, not clear which, even names one of the kids (the w***e one), he suspects in the Ebony article.

JMO

 

[Kimberlyd125]

This statement bothers me:

A new investigation into the Kendrick Johnson case leaves the family with a sense of gratefulness, but Kenneth Johnson says although the feds are reopening the case. He tells us he won't have closure until someone is locked up for his son's death.

http://m.wtxl.com/mobile/news/local...cle_be3c5ff0-4341-11e3-a681-0019bb30f31a.html


I'm not trying to come down on this grieving father, but this statement tells me that no matter what the new investigation shows, this family will only be satisfied if its ruled a murder.
That's a bit concerning.

JMO