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

[jandkmom]

In reference to the teachers not attending the funeral, some people just don't go to funerals. I myself don't attend unless it is an immediate family member. I have been to too many visitations and funerals where people treat it like a friend reunion, and that makes me uncomfortable. The family is grieving the loss of someone that they love and I just don't know what to say. Also, if there was unknown circumstances of the death and media was there, maybe the teachers didn't want to be involved in a frenzy and questioned about what they knew. People deal with things in different ways and that doesn't mean that one way is right and the other way is wrong. Sometimes we read too much into things. JMHO

 

[RANCH]

The dead boys’ friends and family say they were also slighted when virtually every member from the high school faculty, including his coaches, were absent at the funeral.

‘Only two teachers came to K.J.’s funeral,’ Rickey told MailOnline. ‘And a substitute teacher came.’

The three teachers joined a mass of mourners; some included Kendrick’s middle school football coaches and his middle school principals, while others traveled from rival high schools and drove long distances to pay their respects. Rickey said the abandonment hurt.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...urs-teens-mysterious-death.html#ixzz2mH3M25zI
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Does there have to be a requirement for a teacher to show respect for a student who died at your school, no matter the reason?

BBM

I'm not sure what this question means. Is there evidence that any teachers did not show respect to Kendrick in this case?

What does "showing respect" mean? Does it mean going to a funeral? Could it mean doing some other act of respect in a more personal and intimate manner?

 

[Karmady]

In reference to the teachers not attending the funeral, some people just don't go to funerals. I myself don't attend unless it is an immediate family member. I have been to too many visitations and funerals where people treat it like a friend reunion, and that makes me uncomfortable. The family is grieving the loss of someone that they love and I just don't know what to say. Also, if there was unknown circumstances of the death and media was there, maybe the teachers didn't want to be involved in a frenzy and questioned about what they knew. People deal with things in different ways and that doesn't mean that one way is right and the other way is wrong. Sometimes we read too much into things. JMHO

Just jumping off your post and not attributing this to you in any way. It's my thoughts completely. But so what if they didn't attend and there is no "good" reason. I don't think this is true, but what if the teachers actually didn't know/didn't like Kendrick or his family, so didn't go to his funeral. What's that got to do with covering up a murder. The opposite I would think. They'd be there with bells on pretending everything was hunky dory. This line of thought is a complete snipe hunt, imo.

 

[jandkmom]

Also, as for the phone dialing system, it may dial just based on the daily attendance code, or it could call for individual periods. Either way, if a substitute was teaching in the afternoon, or someone got busy and didn't enter the period absence into the computer, or if the phone number in the dialer system was wrong, a call may not have gone out. To me this is not even important in this case. There is no way that if this young man died as quickly as they think that a phone call home at the end of the period or the day would have saved his life. It is a terrible tragedy that this happened, and without an eyewitness, we may never know exactly what happened. I agree with a previous poster that kids talk and some version of the story would have come out.

 

[RANCH]

Just jumping off your post and not attributing this to you in any way. It's my thoughts completely. But so what if they didn't attend and there is no "good" reason. I don't think this is true, but what if the teachers actually didn't know/didn't like Kendrick or his family, so didn't go to his funeral. What's that got to do with covering up a murder. The opposite I would think. They'd be there with bells on pretending everything was hunky dory. This line of thought is a complete snipe hunt, imo.

In my opinion the only reason to bring up the school faculty's attendance record at the funeral is to inflame this case. It has nothing to do with whether or not it was an accidental death.

 

[jandkmom]

Just jumping off your post and not attributing this to you in any way. It's my thoughts completely. But so what if they didn't attend and there is no "good" reason. I don't think this is true, but what if the teachers actually didn't know/didn't like Kendrick or his family, so didn't go to his funeral. What's that got to do with covering up a murder. The opposite I would think. They'd be there with bells on pretending everything was hunky dory. This line of thought is a complete snipe hunt, imo.

I totally agree. Right after I posted I saw your post and thought the same thing.

I have worked in two different school systems for a total of over 25 years and heard the darnedest stories from kids. If there was a murder or cover-up, I believe some kid would tell on the other in a heartbeat. As far as rolling a student up in the mat, those mats are heavy!!! There is no way that one person could roll up a heavy body, lift it up, keep it from falling back over, or unrolling in such a short period of time. Yes, people probably haven't been as forthcoming as people would like, but there was an ongoing investigation, you have to keep other students privacy in mind, you have to get the rest of the students concentrated on learning, and worry about saying something wrong and getting sued.

 

[BeginnersLuck]

I changed kids names to initials below.

On the day Johnson was found, another friend R remembers everybody’s mobile phones pinging nonstop. But then he saw Kendrick’s mother and everything changed.
‘This student came back to class and she was crying saying they found a dead body. We ran to the front and I didn't know it was Kendrick until I see his mama out there crying.’
R and many of Kendrick’s friends were puzzled why the school administration didn’t suspend classes for the day and send everybody home.
‘They were still having classes like it was a normal day,’ he told MailOnline. ‘It was like they found a dog or something.
‘They told us ‘Call your parents if you want. And we had to come back to school the next day.’
After Johnson’s death S and his friends say they were given the silent treatment by many of at the school. ‘It was different,’ he said. ‘They didn’t talk to us no more. We’re in the middle of everybody but not many people talk to us.’
The dead boys’ friends and family say they were also slighted when virtually every member from the high school faculty, including his coaches, were absent at the funeral.
‘Only two teachers came to K.J.’s funeral,’ R told MailOnline. ‘And a substitute teacher came.’
The three teachers joined a mass of mourners; some included Kendrick’s middle school football coaches and his middle school principals, while others traveled from rival high schools and drove long distances to pay their respects. R said the abandonment hurt.

I'm reading the above from the "Daily Mail" and they are supposedly quoting statements made by friends/students.

First the child doesn't understand why the school was secured and they weren't allowed to go home and equates it to treating Kendrick like a dog.

Then he feels ignored by everyone at school after the death. :waitasec:

Finally the teachers not showing up is brought up and he states the abandonment hurt. This soulds like shock or grief statements or media hype.

There were hundreds of people at the funeral. Friends, family, people in the community that didn't even know the family. Who was taking head count and knew who did and didn't show up? How can this be taken as fact?

 

[jandkmom]

I changed kids names to initials below.



I'm reading the above from the "Daily Mail" and they are supposedly quoting statements made by friends/students.

First the child doesn't understand why the school was secured and they weren't allowed to go home and equates it to treating Kendrick like a dog.


The he feels ignored by everyone at school after the death. :waitasec:

Finally the teachers not showing up is brought up and he states the abandonment hurt. This soulds like shock or grief statements or media hype.

There were hundreds of people at the funeral. Friends, family, people in the community that didn't even know the family. Who was taking head count and knew who did and didn't show up? How can this be taken as fact?

And they may not have wanted them to go home until they had collected the evidence and talked to students as needed. Also, you can't just send all those students home with parents not expecting them. Some students ride the buses with siblings, so you would probably have to release all students in the district and you can't do that with the elementary students unless there is someone home to watch them and you would have to round up all the bus drivers and parents for pick-up children. Lots of things to consider when changing the length of a school day.

Also, as for the students being quiet, I as an adult don't know what to say sometimes, so I imagine they just didn't know what to say either.

 

[BitsyB]

two kids can keep a secret for about 10 SECONDS. If there were two other kids involved BESIDES KJ, then at least one of them would have folded like a cheap suit under police questioning. That’s a fact.

They can keep quiet if they know they will go to prison if they talk.

 

[RANCH]

I changed kids names to initials below.



I'm reading the above from the "Daily Mail" and they are supposedly quoting statements made by friends/students.

First the child doesn't understand why the school was secured and they weren't allowed to go home and equates it to treating Kendrick like a dog.

The he feels ignored by everyone at school after the death. :waitasec:

Finally the teachers not showing up is brought up and he states the abandonment hurt. This soulds like shock or grief statements or media hype.

There were hundreds of people at the funeral. Friends, family, people in the community that didn't even know the family. Who was taking head count and knew who did and didn't show up? How can this be taken as fact?

BBM

I find it disrespectful that someone would have taken the time and effort to log who did or didn't show up to Kendrick's funeral. The focus should have been on Kendrick's life and not on who was able to make it to the service.

I would feel better if it was just a fantasy and no one actually did compile this kind of information.

 

[Tawny]

IIRC, there were upwards of 1000 people at his funeral, right? How can you even know how many teachers were there? I surely wouldn't be taking roll, in my grief, of which faculty members were and were not at my son's funeral.

JMO. I think it's more gasoline on an already raging fire of emotion.

 

[Karmady]

They can keep quiet if they know they will go to prison if they talk.

afaik, they're all minors, so no one's going to prison.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

afaik, they're all minors, so no one's going to prison.

Well but...as an aside, not a comment on this particular case...minors have been and are often charged as adults and sentenced to prison.

 

[Karmady]

Well but...as an aside, not a comment on this particular case...minors have been and are often charged as adults and sentenced to prison.

Statistics are pretty hard to come by and interpret afaict, but the number of juveniles tried as adults in jail is very low. Presumably, the number of juveniles tried as adults and in prison is lower still. For a first time offender for a crime other than murder 1, there's, imo, no chance that the minor is going to prison. And, imo, that's just for the sake of argument since there's no crime here whatsoever imo (not directed at you. just being clear lest even addressing it is deemed as acknowledging a crime was possibly committed)

http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/jim08st.pdf

 

[pearl]

Statistics are pretty hard to come by and interpret afaict, but the number of juveniles tried as adults in jail is very low. Presumably, the number of juveniles tried as adults and in prison is lower still. For a first time offender for a crime other than murder 1, there's, imo, no chance that the minor is going to prison. And, imo, that's just for the sake of argument since there's no crime here whatsoever imo (not directed at you. just being clear lest even addressing it is deemed as acknowledging a crime was possibly committed)

http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/jim08st.pdf

In the state of GA, there are 7 crimes for which a juvenile is automatically tried as an adult. They are referred to as the "7 Deadly Sins." As per the GA Dept of Juvenile Justice

http://www.djj.state.ga.us/ResourceLibrary/resFactSheetsGlossary.shtml#Senate Bill 440 (SB440)

Senate Bill 440 (SB440) – Refers to the School Safety and Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 1994 (SB440). Among other things, this legislation modified the jurisdiction of the juvenile court to provide that the superior court has exclusive jurisdiction over children ages 13-17 who are alleged to have committed one of the following offenses (commonly referred to as the "Seven Deadly Sins"): aggravated child molestation, aggravated and sexual battery, aggravated sodomy, murder, rape, voluntary manslaughter, or armed robbery with a firearm. Prior to indictment, the district attorney may elect to send the case to juvenile court.

 

[Trident]

Just jumping off your post and not attributing this to you in any way. It's my thoughts completely. But so what if they didn't attend and there is no "good" reason. I don't think this is true, but what if the teachers actually didn't know/didn't like Kendrick or his family, so didn't go to his funeral. What's that got to do with covering up a murder. The opposite I would think. They'd be there with bells on pretending everything was hunky dory. This line of thought is a complete snipe hunt, imo.

Yep, right in line with hunting for snow snakes. I remember that one from my younger days.

 

[iSleuth]

Well but...as an aside, not a comment on this particular case...minors have been and are often charged as adults and sentenced to prison.

Exactly, Maybe the people who assaulted him were seniors and 18 and would go to jail.
Interesting people use the explanation that there were no witnesses and noone saw him "fall into the mat" same no witnesses didn't see him attacked- if he was- either. Yet we see students in the gym on the videos. Maybe they're afraid they'll end up dead in a gym mat.

 

[Karmady]

In the state of GA, there are 7 crimes for which a juvenile is automatically tried as an adult. They are referred to as the "7 Deadly Sins." As per the GA Dept of Juvenile Justice

http://www.djj.state.ga.us/ResourceLibrary/resFactSheetsGlossary.shtml#Senate Bill 440 (SB440)

Senate Bill 440 (SB440) – Refers to the School Safety and Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 1994 (SB440). Among other things, this legislation modified the jurisdiction of the juvenile court to provide that the superior court has exclusive jurisdiction over children ages 13-17 who are alleged to have committed one of the following offenses (commonly referred to as the "Seven Deadly Sins"): aggravated child molestation, aggravated and sexual battery, aggravated sodomy, murder, rape, voluntary manslaughter, or armed robbery with a firearm. Prior to indictment, the district attorney may elect to send the case to juvenile court.

Thanks for the link, Pearl.

Being tried in superior court doesn't necessarily mean adult prison for a minor, imo Like I mentioned, I haven't been able to easily find current stats, but it's doubtful, imo, that a juvenile involved in a "prank gone wrong" or even in a "fight gone wrong" is going to get much jail time, much less go to adult prision. Especially if he's still in school and has no prior record.

That said, I'm going to drop it since, imo, it has nothing to do with this case.

 

[Sherp]

Exactly, Maybe the people who assaulted him were seniors and 18 and would go to jail.
Interesting people use the explanation that there were no witnesses and noone saw him "fall into the mat" same no witnesses didn't see him attacked- if he was- either. Yet we see students in the gym on the videos. Maybe they're afraid they'll end up dead in a gym mat.

There is no evidence of an assault in this tragedy.

 

[BitsyB]

There is no evidence of an assault in this tragedy.

We will see whether or not US attorney Moore agrees with that.