The Teen Found Dead Inside a Rolled-Up Gym Mat

Was Kendrick Johnson’s death a tragic accident or a murder cover-up?

By Kassondra O'HaraPublished 4 years ago • 6 min read

17-year-old Kendrick Johnson

Kendrick Johnson was a 17-year-old student and athlete at Lowndes High School in Valdosta, GA. He had just returned to school from Christmas break and was planning to attend a basketball game the day he died, January 10, 2013.

Around 9:30 p.m., Kendrick’s mother, Jackie began to worry when Kendrick did not arrive home. She knew he planned to attend the basketball game after school, but he was never this late without calling to let her know. At 12:30 a.m., she contacted the police to report him missing. She had already driven the route Kendrick would have taken between the school and his home but was unable to locate her son.

The Discovery

Around 10 a.m. the next morning, classes were going on as usual at Lowndes High School. That is until a group of students met in the gymnasium for class. One of the students noticed a pair of white socks sticking out from one of the rolled-up gym mats that were stored vertically in the corner. The student went to investigate further, stepped up on the bleachers, and looked down into the mat. Here, she saw the lifeless, upside-down body, of who would later be identified as Kendrick Johnson.

Philip Pieplow, the school’s coach, immediately overturned the mats while a student dialed 911. As he attempted to pull the student from the mat, he realized that the boy was already deceased and there was nothing to be done to save him. When local law enforcement and medical personnel arrived at the scene, they immediately locked down the school.

Photo of Kendrick’s lower half inside the mat

The Initial Investigation

Police reviewed security footage from around the school, focusing especially on those recording movements in the gym. They determined that on January 10th, Kendrick attended two morning classes and then arrived at the gym at 1:09 p.m. Even though there were several cameras assigned to the gym, unfortunately, none of them were focused on the corner where Kendrick’s life ended. They do show Kendrick walking towards the corner of the gym and other students entering the gym minutes later.

Police interviewed the students seen on the video and were informed that often, students used the mats to store their belongings so that they wouldn’t have to pay for the use of a locker. Kendrick and another student shared a pair of gym shoes and would take turns wearing them. They were usually left inside the mats, which were typically turned on their side. However, over the Christmas break, the mats had been turned vertically.

After reviewing video footage and taking statements, police ruled that Kendrick’s death was an accident. They believed that Kendrick climbed on top of the mats and reached down to get his shoes. When he fell into the mat, he became stuck and was unable to free himself. His death was ruled as “positional asphyxia”. There was no evidence to support foul play.

Kendrick’s Family Disagrees

Losing a child is one of the greatest tragedies that any parent will ever face. That pain is understandably made worse when parents feel as though their child’s death was at the hands of another, and no justice has been served.

This was the case for Jackie Johnson, Kendrick’s mother. She has never believed that Kendrick’s death was an accident, but instead a murder that was covered up. After the decision was made by the Lowndes County Sheriff’s office to rule the death an accident, the Johnson family contacted Rev. Floyd Rose of the Valdosta Southern Christian Leadership Conference to assist them in conducting their own investigation. The SLCC, along with the NAACP joined forces with the Johnson’s and other members of the community who had doubts about the official ruling of Kendrick’s death.

Jackie and Kenneth Johnson, Kendrick’s parents

On May 8, 2013, a second autopsy was conducted on Kendrick by private pathologist Dr. William Anderson. He concluded that Kendrick’s death was not an accident but had been caused by a karate-like chop to the neck based on hemorrhaging found on the right side of the neck.

During this autopsy, it was discovered that Kendrick’s internal organs were missing. His body cavity was filled with newspapers. The explanation by the funeral home was that organs were “destroyed through natural process” due to the position of Kendrick’s body when he died and was discarded by the prosector before being sent to them. The Johnsons attempted to sue the funeral home for the mishandling of their son’s body, but the case was dropped.

This incident only furthered the Johnson’s belief that their son was murdered, and it was being covered up.

A formal review of the case was granted by the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, Michael Moore. The hope was that a coroner’s inquest would be granted, which could allow Kendrick’s death to be re-classified as non-accidental and would reopen the case. Unfortunately for the Johnson family, the request was denied.

Why Do They Feel So Strongly that Kendrick was Murdered?

Coupled with the second autopsy results and the fact that Kendrick’s organs were now missing and unavailable to be examined, were the inconsistencies in the evidence.

It has been noted that more than an hour of video footage during the time of Kendrick’s death inside the gym was missing when investigators were reviewing tapes. Also baffling, was that on the floor, inside the mat, underneath Kendrick’s head, was the black and white shoe that he was supposedly reaching for. The shoe was sitting upon a pool of blood, however, there was no blood on the shoe itself. Strange as well is the fact that Kendrick’s shoes were found near the top of the mat behind his knees. How did they get there?

The shoe that Kendrick was allegedly reaching for inside the mat

The Johnsons also stated that their son had been repeatedly harassed by white students and that the school has taken no action against it.

In 2015, a $100 million lawsuit was filed by the Johnsons against 38 people. The list included three classmates of Kendrick’s, Lowndes High School, the crime lab, five GBI agents, an FBI agent, state officials, and federal officials, among others. They were convinced that the two sons of the FBI agent, who attended Lowndes High and played football with Kendrick, were responsible for their son’s death and strings were pulled to have the incident covered up.

It was found that the Johnsons had no evidence to support their claims, so the suit was dropped. The Johnsons were then countersued for more than $850,000 in attorney fees and defamation. They were ordered by a judge to pay $300,000 in restitution to those who were accused without evidence.

New Revelations in the Case

“It’s unbearable, just about,” Jacquelyn Johnson said. “The only thing that wakes you up in the morning is to just keep pushing.”

Johnson has not given up hope in the eight years since her son’s death that the truth will be revealed. Just this month on March 9th, Lowndes County Sheriff, Ashley Paulk announced that his office will officially be re-opening the Kendrick Johnson case. This comes after federal officials finally agreed to release 17 boxes, full of materials from their three-year investigation into Kendrick’s death, over to the sheriff’s office.

“I’m treating it like it’s a brand new case,” said Paulk, who will lead the probe. “There’s still a lot of questions people want answered.”

Interestingly, on March 19th, Paulk was visited by Jackie Johnson, who had in her possession a recording of what appears to be a confession by a caucasian male stating that he killed Kendrick. Currently, investigators are trying to determine the validity of the recording and its chain of custody. According to Johnson, she allegedly bought the recording from someone claiming that it had significance to the case.