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

[Karmady]

With cafeteria provided butter knife in hand, a freshman student goes into empty room in school, trips and falls on knife which penetrates into chest cavity, pierces heart, bleeds, is knocked unconscious, and undisturbed for several hours, dies, all on video.

Question
If student's parents bring an action for wrongful death against the school, what do you think
--- a jury would find?
--- a jury should find?

Unfortunately, I'd say there's a 20-30% chance of a plaintiff's verdict for allowing a 14 year old access to an eating utensil unsupervised on school property :facepalm:

The jury should never be empaneled, because such a lawsuit should never be brought. But if it is, they should find no liability in under 5 minutes.

jmo

 

[Reader]

Thanks for iSleuth and pearl for researching and responding to the questions that my previous post opened up.

Here are a few more sources that I located, including a statement from Mr. Moore about his goals, a source that points out a further contradiction in statements by the sheriff about how the body was found and the fact the school did verify Kendrick was present during the first 3 classes but not the
4th.

http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/kendrick-johnson/x1303518583/Autopsy-returned-in-student-death

Sheriff’s and GBI investigators initially worked the scene as a suspected homicide. The sheriff’s office and Lowndes
County School System issued a statement of suspecting no foul play by Friday night. *

*Now some may not agree but when a sheriff comes out and says that he has determined there is 'no foul play' and no danger to the public this means to most of us that one of 2 things happened. It was either a suicide or an accident. It was never suggested that Kendrick committed suicide. That is the way his statement was generally interpreted at the beginning even before the autopsy and a few sources say the same day the death was discovered. I'm not trying to persuade anyone to agree with me. This is just a result of all my sources on the case and IMO.

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http://www.mysouthwestga.com/news/story.aspx?id=847686#.UpF9pTOA3VJ

Comment
In this article, (http://www.mysouthwestga.com/news/story.aspx?id=846762#.UPVpQuimBNd) Sheriff Prine is quoted as having
said that the child was NOT found rolled up in a mat. However, in local autopsy article from the Valdosta Daily Times,
(http://valdostadailytimes.com/breakingnews/x503821868/Autopsy-returned-for-Lowndes-High-teen), Sheriff Prine suggests
that the child may have climbed onto the top of these mats and fell down inside one of them and became lodged (thus he would
have been found rolled up in a mat). How can that be? Either he was found INSIDE the rolled up mat or on the floor
BESIDE the mat. You really can't have it both ways. I have nothing against Sheriff Prine for needing to keep the details
of the case closed until the investigation is complete. However, I take exception to what seems to be a misrepresentation
of the facts that were disclosed to the public. Sheriff Prine is a public servant and he has no right to give false
information to Kendrick Johnson's family or the community he is supposed to be serving. If WFXL misquoted Sheriff Prine,
I should think they also owe it to the public to correct their error and to apologize publicly to Sheriff Prine.

Reply · 9 · · January 15 at 6:54am

WFXL Kyle Proctor

We standby by our quotes from the conversations with the conversations we had with Sheriff Prine. The information
he gave us on Saturday changed from the statement they sent out on Monday. We reached out to Sheriff Prine multiple
times and never received a call back. We were emailed yesterday with this statement.

Reply · 2 · · January 15 at 7:09am

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http://www.mysouthwestga.com/news/story.aspx?id=846762#.UpF-tDOA3VJ

Prine also detailed that the body was not rolled up in a gym mat, but was found next to several mats stacked up
along the gym wall......

Although the exact cause of death is yet to be determined, as of this stage of the investigation, nothing has been
discovered to indicate foul play was involved, according to Sheriff Prine. An autopsy will be conducted on Monday
by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation medical examiner’s office to attempt to determine an exact cause of death.

“We are confident that the campus of Lowndes High School is safe for the return of students on Monday,” said Sheriff Prine.

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http://www.usnews.com/news/newsgram...-teen-kendrick-johnsons-death-not-an-accident


Johnson's parents believe the county sheriff's office acted too quickly, ruling no foul play within 24 hours of
finding the body and mishandled the crime scene.

"I definitely would not have ruled it an accident," county coroner Bill Watson told Grantland. Watson received a
call from investigators six hours after Johnson's body was discovered, in contrast with Georgia law which requires
police to notify a coroner or medical examiner immediately after discovering a dead body.

------

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id...-17-year-old-football-player-valdosta-georgia

The original EMT report had declared the gym a crime scene. Says Watson of that day, "I definitely would not have ruled
it an accident."

But that evening, the sheriff's department issued a statement: A body had been found at Lowndes High School. Foul play
was not suspected.......

When it came time to identify the body, Kenneth was still on his way back from Pennsylvania. Eddie Tooley, Kendrick's
grandfather, requested to see the body, and according to Tooley, he was refused. (Again, Sheriff Prine declined to be
interviewed for this story. Chief Deputy Joseph Crow did not respond to an e-mail requesting comment on the department's
interactions with Kendrick's family.) Georgia law says that if the next of kin — or an agent of the next of kin — requests
custody of a dead body, authorities must release it within 24 hours of the request. Unless, that is, an officer, a coroner,
or a medical examiner has made a written finding that suspects foul play. And by Friday night, the sheriff had already
announced that he did not.

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http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/kendrick-johnson/x1267065669/Finding-Kendrick

Hutchinson looked at attendance records and found that he had been marked absent during fourth block the previous day,
Jan. 10. She called a few students from Kendrick’s classes and Krista Royal, Kendrick’s third block teacher, to her office
to ask if Kendrick was present in his first three classes on Jan. 10. Each said he had been present.

Vikings Head Football Coach Randy MacPherson confirmed to Hutchinson that Kendrick was not present during fourth block
weight training on Jan. 10. Jacquelyn said it was unlike her son to skip a class, and Hutchinson agreed..........

Sheriff’s and GBI investigators initially worked the scene as a suspected homicide. The sheriff’s office and
Lowndes County School System issued a statement of suspecting no foul play by Friday night.

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http://www.wtxl.com/news/local/upda...cle_5f7def5e-5c17-11e2-8666-0019bb30f31a.html

UPDATED: 01/11/13 ---6:40 p.m.

VALDOSTA, Ga. (WTXL) --The investigation continues into the death of a Lowndes High School student.

Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine says the student's body was found Friday morning.

Students tell us they were told of the student's death during second period. We're learning the student,
whose name has yet to be released, was a sophomore at the school.

Despite launching the investigating as a "possible homicide", a joint statement released by Lowndes County School
Superintendent Wes Taylor and Sheriff Chris Prine says "Although the exact cause of death is yet to be determined,
as of this stage of the investigation, nothing has been discovered to indicate foul play was involved, according to
Sheriff Prine. An autopsy will be conducted on Monday by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation medical examiner’s
office to attempt to determine an exact cause of death."

------

http://www.re-newsit.com/2013/10/the-kendrick-johnson-case-nothing.html

Prine, talked to the family that day and told them that there was no evidence of foul play, but that he couldn’t
say that for sure until the autopsy came back. He said the family was informed early in the week that the GBI was
going to release it by Wednesday or Thursday.

-------

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/article/333742/5/US-Attorney-opens-investigation-of--teens-death


Moore said he was not accepting or rejecting any of the previous investigations and would approach the case with an open mind.

Moore said he would not comment on the case further until his office has completed its review.

"As part of that process," Moore said, "there are several questions that must be answered or confirmed. First, what was
the cause of Mr. Johnson's death. Second, was Mr. Johnson's death the result of a crime? Third, if Mr. Johnson's death
was the result of a crime, who committed that crime? Fourth, if a crime was committed, who has the jurisdiction to
investigate and prosecute those responsible?"

 

[BeginnersLuck]

For those that disagree with the way the Sheriff worded his statement to the public in regards to the finding of KJ's body, how do you think it could have been worded better so as not to cause panic in the community and especially with the parents and students that attend the school?

Do you feel the school should have been kept closed longer?

The way I see it, is they had to say something so parents and students didn't think there was a serial killer roaming around the school and their children were safe to go back. The statement they gave IMO, is pretty standard when they think it's a isolated incident, whether by homicide or accident. They did include homicide hasn't been ruled out. They did investigate for months afterwords. They did call in the GBI immediately. If the GBI hadn't been called and this was a small town LE agencies that did everything, I may be more open to the possibility of some wrong doing.

The statement made concerning Kendrick being rolled up in a gym mat is IMO, exactly how it is stated. They did not believe someone rolled him up in a mat. The probability of someone doing this and then positioning the mat where it was, is highly unlikely. Especially in a short amount of time. Also, if KJ had been bleeding profusely when rolled up into a mat then there would be blood evidence all over the place, not just all pooled under the mat he was found in.

 

[iSleuth]

I went back over and read the incident reports again. I was trying to understand the position of these mats, and all the statements of those present the day that KJ was discovered.

http://www.11alive.com/assetpool/documents/131030051629_Jan '13 Incident Reports.pdf

contrary to many discussions- no one mentions ( any ) blood.
All the students report trauma of finding him, the mats, pulling them away, the coach having trouble breathing, they all recall the smell and being ordered to the New Gym etc. I can only imagine this horrible scene. but no discussion of blood, mostly seems only the swabs that detectives took. The " old " blood on the wall. so no big puddles and pooled up blood is described remotely.



report 13-01-01520.1
10:32

Deputy Kerry Quinn
observes "both arms partially obstructing the face and were moderately stiff. The facial area was severely disfigured and swollen"
nothing about blood.

A few other things that stood out when i re read these documents were:

1. School Resource Officers " Allowed" Detective Whitener to the area where the body was.
hmmmm that's one way of saying it I suppose. :waitasec:

2. I really can't understand how the gym mats were at all. were they "stacked" were they Vertical? or "Horizontal" does one climb to the top or lie on mats standing vertically? is the entire school directionally challenged>? or maybe it's me. That gym class was a wreck just sayin'

3. The "student" that color guard teacher M. let into the building at 7:00 pm
wearing glasses and a back pack. That is really sketchy to me. I am sorry. How and when do your HS kids wear a backpack. I would love to know more about that " backpack" my antenna is up on this.

Thanks for listening to the ramblings that are JMO:seeya:

 

[Tawny]

So... where did the discussion of pools and pools of blood come from? That's odd.

iSleuth - The numbered list... are those your thoughts or did you find that somewhere? Why would it be odd for a student to have a back pack at a school?

 

[iSleuth]

For those that disagree with the way the Sheriff worded his statement to the public in regards to the finding of KJ's body, how do you think it could have been worded better so as not to cause panic in the community and especially with the parents and students that attend the school?

Do you feel the school should have been kept closed longer?

The way I see it, is they had to say something so parents and students didn't think there was a serial killer roaming around the school and their children were safe to go back. The statement they gave IMO, is pretty standard when they think it's a isolated incident, whether by homicide or accident. They did include homicide hasn't been ruled out. They did investigate for months afterwords. They did call in the GBI immediately. If the GBI hadn't been called and this was a small town LE agencies that did everything, I may be more open to the possibility of some wrong doing.

The statement made concerning Kendrick being rolled up in a gym mat is IMO, exactly how it is stated. They did not believe someone rolled him up in a mat. The probability of someone doing this and then positioning the mat where it was, is highly unlikely. Especially in a short amount of time. Also, if KJ had been bleeding profusely when rolled up into a mat then there would be blood evidence all over the place, not just all pooled under the mat he was found in.

My digression was from the last line of the above comment .



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[iSleuth]

So... where did the discussion of pools and pools of blood come from? That's odd.

iSleuth - The numbered list... are those your thoughts or did you find that somewhere? Why would it be odd for a student to have a back pack at a school?

Yes, The list contains my original thoughts and opinions.
Just kids wear those sacks maybe not like back packs - to me my antenna is up. Say I want to look like innocent bookworm .. Put on glasses and use that old backpack grandma gave me...
Jmo


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[Kimberlyd125]

I would think a kid with a backpack at school is totally normal and nothing suspicious.

JMO

 

[iSleuth]

I would think a kid with a backpack at school is totally normal and nothing suspicious.

JMO

At 7:00 pm unsupervised in a school .? Ok that's fair. I would expect such a hard working student would have identified their innocent expedition though . Yet , They have never been identified?


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[BeginnersLuck]

My digression was from the last line of the above comment .



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The blood reference came from page 3 of the crime lab report.

http://kjtheboywhodidntcomehome.fil...crime-lab-report-in-kendrick-johnson-case.pdf

 

[Karmady]

Yes, The list contains my original thoughts and opinions.
Just kids wear those sacks maybe not like back packs - to me my antenna is up. Say I want to look like innocent bookworm .. Put on glasses and use that old backpack grandma gave me...
Jmo


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My dd is in highschool and ALL of her friends wear backpacks. Not even saying it to challenge you. Just sayin', nothing personal, but I don't even know what you're talking about when you say they don't . She also wears glasses for school. And she's FAR from a nerd. I wish she were MORE nerdy. Wearing cool frames is now quite hipster, actually. She begged for them lol. Maybe it's a regional thing?

 

[Karmady]

At 7:00 pm unsupervised in a school .? Ok that's fair. I would expect such a hard working student would have identified their innocent expedition though . Yet , They have never been identified?


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I'm sure the kid's been identified. Just not publicly. For obvious reasons. Btw, there was a conversation I was involved in earlier today in another thread (Philip Chism) about how discussing minors that are only indirectly involved in cases in any way is a violation of the TOS. Even if not by name. The mod in that thread was requesting clarification of the rule as I understand it. Maybe we should wait for that in case we're not allowed to discuss this kid. jmo

 

[Kimberlyd125]

At 7:00 pm unsupervised in a school .? Ok that's fair. I would expect such a hard working student would have identified their innocent expedition though . Yet , They have never been identified?


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Where are you getting that the child was never identified?
You state it as a fact. Did you read that somewhere? Or, are you just assuming?




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[iSleuth]

I'm sure the kid's been identified. Just not publicly. For obvious reasons. Btw, there was a conversation I was involved in earlier today in another thread (Philip Chism) about how discussing minors that are only indirectly involved in cases in any way is a violation of the TOS. Even if not by name. The mod in that thread was requesting clarification of the rule as I understand it. Maybe we should wait for that in case we're not allowed to discuss this kid. jmo

Yes agreed. I definitely thought of that too . But these are things that are easy to do, if the school wanted to Clear the perceptions and fears of the public.




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[raeann]

At 7:00 pm unsupervised in a school .? Ok that's fair. I would expect such a hard working student would have identified their innocent expedition though . Yet , They have never been identified?


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ALL of the kids use them at our high school....most of them have TWO backpacks, one for A day classes and the other for B day classes. They are stuffed full and weigh about 40 pounds each! It's a private school and the kids actually study and do their papers and projects, but I'm sure most public school kids do the same.
As for the 7 pm being at the school, mine were at school HUNDREDS of days at that time...for sports practices, Journalism publication deadlines, community service projects, student council meetings, ACT and SAT prep courses, honor society etc, etc. Kids also often go back to pick up books they need from their lockers, etc. after practice and activities are over. A kid at school at that hour is probably an excellent student who cares about their work and wanted to get something for the next day and/ or who was still there for a practice after being at school all day too. Whoever they were....I'm sure the cameras enabled them being identified and implying they are anything but an innocent student doing what students do, is unfair IMO....

jmo

 

[iSleuth]

ALL of the kids use them at our high school....most of them have TWO backpacks, one for A day classes and the other for B day classes. They are stuffed full and weigh about 40 pounds each! It's a private school and the kids actually study and do their papers and projects, but I'm sure most public school kids do the same.
As for the 7 pm being at the school, mine were at school HUNDREDS of days at that time...for sports practices, Journalism publication deadlines, community service projects, student council meetings, ACT and SAT prep courses, honor society etc, etc. Kids also often go back to pick up books they need from their lockers, etc. after practice and activities are over. A kid at school at that hour is probably an excellent student who cares about their work and wanted to get something for the next day and/ or who was still there for a practice after being at school all day too. Whoever they were....I'm sure the cameras enabled them being identified and implying they are anything but an innocent student doing what students do, is unfair IMO....

jmo

Yep, the student was probably going to an SAT class in the old gym at 7:00 pm.. As a long time teacher /parent I know about these types of students . I have been that faculty member with kids ... Student government or arts committee. Etc . Many times. But alas nothing like that in this case at the school that night. The night kj's had already missed a class and a game and dinner whose parents already knew he was missing.



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[raeann]

Yep, the student was probably going to an SAT class in the old gym at 7:00 pm


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It is far more likely to be a student retrieving a book or jacket or gym bag.....but almost zero possibility that they went there to do anything evil or stealthy......students know full well there are cameras everywhere in the schools. They would have no expectation of any sort of privacy at that hour of the evening.
AND FWIW....most schools use their 'old gym' every evening during basketball, volleyball, wrestling season.....which is all in process in January along with cheer and dance groups, band, theatre, choir etc all of which may use the gym areas regularly

 

[Karmady]

Yes agreed. I definitely thought of that too . But these are things that are easy to do, if the school wanted to Clear the perceptions and fears of the public.




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What is easy to do? If you mean release the identity of a minor, I have to disagree. Not only would it not be easy, it would likely be illegal. I don't know whether LE's been specifically asked about that kid, or what they've said in response, but I haven't heard anyone expressing any concerns over him, in particular, other than here.

 

[Karmady]

Yep, the student was probably going to an SAT class in the old gym at 7:00 pm.. As a long time teacher /parent I know about these types of students . I have been that faculty member with kids ... Student government or arts committee. Etc . Many times. But alas nothing like that in this case at the school that night. The night kj's had already missed a class and a game and dinner whose parents already knew he was missing.



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okay, so you've got this student donning a set of glasses and an awkward christmas present backpack he got from his granny and would never wear in public entering the school at 7 pm and going away from the old gym where KJ's body was located. What is the point? What has the kid got to do with it?

 

[iSleuth]

What is easy to do? If you mean release the identity of a minor, I have to disagree. Not only would it not be easy, it would likely be illegal. I don't know whether LE's been specifically asked about that kid, or what they've said in response, but I haven't heard anyone expressing any concerns over him, in particular, other than here.

I guess it could be equally condemned if they said yes we have accounted for said student .
People could / would/ might still question it.

But it is the official report and It is my opinion that it is a case of another unsupervised student on campus. Maybe it wasn't even a student from the school?



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