The world can be harsh and unforgiving, and every day it leaves behind painful stories that stay with us. Some tragedies remain etched in our minds either because of the emotional impact they carry or the strange and unsettling circumstances surrounding them.
More than ten years have passed since the death of Kendrick Johnson, and people are still stunned by what happened to him. Kendrick was a 17 year old student athlete from Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia. In January 2013, he was discovered dead inside a rolled up gym mat at his school.
The disturbing discovery was made by students who climbed a stack of upright gym mats almost six feet high. Kendrick was found upside down in the center of one of the mats, folded with his shoes stuck behind his legs.
Authorities quickly ruled his death an accident, saying he suffocated after falling into the mat.
But Kendrick’s family immediately rejected that explanation.
Investigators suggested Kendrick was trying to retrieve a shoe and accidentally slipped inside the mat. Several students said it was common to hide shoes behind the mats to avoid paying locker fees.
Lieutenant Stryde Jones of the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office told reporters that they found no credible information pointing to anything other than an accident. The case was closed within four months.
Still, the Johnson family never believed that conclusion and continued to demand answers.
In June 2013, they hired a private pathologist named William R. Anderson to perform a second autopsy. His findings were completely different. He reported signs of blunt force trauma to Kendrick’s neck, which suggested that the teenager may have been harmed. Even more shocking, Kendrick’s internal organs were missing. His body had instead been filled with newspaper.
The funeral home responsible for handling the body claimed they never received the organs. The coroner stated that Kendrick’s organs were destroyed naturally and then discarded, according to CNN.
Later that same year, in October 2013, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia opened a federal review of the case. Investigators questioned nearly 100 people. The review dragged on for almost three years. Then in June 2016, the Department of Justice announced that there was not enough evidence to prove criminal wrongdoing or civil rights violations.
In March 2021, Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk reopened the case again and even offered $500,000 of his own money for helpful information. However, the investigation officially ended in January 2022. Sheriff Paulk stated that there was no evidence of foul play or a cover up, calling Kendrick’s death a “tragic and unusual accident.”
One element that fueled widespread suspicion involved the surveillance cameras inside the gym. In November 2013, authorities released about 290 hours of video from 35 cameras. A forensic review revealed that several cameras were missing long chunks of footage: one hour and five minutes from two cameras and more than two hours from another. None of the cameras captured the exact spot where Kendrick was found.
As a result, many people believe important moments were never recorded or might have been removed.
More than a decade after Kendrick’s death, his parents continue to fight for what they believe is the truth. In August 2025, Kenneth and Jacquelyn Johnson filed an amended 12 million dollar lawsuit against the Georgia Department of Public Health. They want the cause of death on Kendrick’s certificate changed from “accidental positional asphyxia” to “non accidental blunt force trauma.”
“We have filed the right paperwork,” Kenneth said, according to 41NBC. “We have filed several different times to get his death certificate corrected.”
The lawsuit also cites evidence from the second autopsy that described injuries to Kendrick’s internal organs. Along with the lawsuit, the family included a photo showing his organs stored in a biohazard bag. That bag is now reportedly missing.
“They want to ignore the evidence,” Kendrick’s father said. “We are not going to let that happen.”
He added that race plays a role in how the case has been treated.
“If Kendrick was white, his family wouldn’t be going through this. But because he was a Black child, they don’t care. We care. And we will keep fighting for the truth. We want everything to be made right.”