Parents drop complaint officials aided son’s mysterious death
Published 3:48 pm Saturday, August 15, 2015
- Accusations an FBI agent, the sheriff and the school superintendent covered up the death of a black student by placing him upside down in a rolled-up gym mat have been withdrawn by the student’s parents.
VALDOSTA, Ga. – Accusations an FBI agent, the sheriff and the school superintendent covered up the death of a black student by placing him upside down in a rolled-up gym mat have been withdrawn by the student’s parents.
The attorney for Kenneth and Jacquelyn Johnson notified a state court in suburban Atlanta that an amendment containing the allegation was erroneously submitted due to a “typographical error.”
It was filed earlier this week with the DeKalb County Superior Court as an addition to the parents’ $100 million civil lawsuit against 38 defendants in the death of their son, Kendrick Johnson, in January of 2013.
It accused FBI agent Rick Bell, Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine and Lowndes County School Supt. Wes Taylor of personally placing Johnson’s body in the gym mat to mislead authorities about the nature of his death.
An attorney for the sheriff’s office sent an “abusive litigation letter” to the Johnsons giving them 30 days to drop the amended complaint. The letter said it “sets forth myriad false, outrageous, scurrilous and scandalous allegations of criminal conduct, based solely ‘upon information and belief,’ against Sheriff Prine, his deputies and many others.”
The original investigation by the sheriff’s office and a state medical examiner determined Johnson died of “positional asphyxia” when he became trapped in a vertically rolled-up matt trying to retrieve his gym shoes. His parents insist he died of foul play.
A federal grand jury has been investigating the circumstances of the Johnson death for nearly two years. U.S. Attorney Michael Moore has been silent on when he expects the panel to complete the inquiry.
Johnson’s parents contend in their civil suit that the sons of FBI agent Bell were involved in the death and that local officials helped cover up what happened. The Bell family has countersued the Johnsons for defamation.
The odd death of Kendrick Johnson and the subsequent controversy over it has attracted national attention.
Details for this story were provided by the Valdosta, Ga., Daily Times.
