Kendrick Johnson was 17 when he was found deceased, wrapped in a wrestling mat in his high school gym; his death was ruled an accident
Credit: Russ Bynum/AP
NEED TO KNOW
- A lawsuit filed by the parents of Kendrick Johnson, accusing multiple government agencies of covering up his murder, was dismissed in court
- Johnson was 17 when he was found deceased in his school gymnasium; it was ruled that he suffocated after falling into a rolled-up wrestling mat and becoming trapped
- His family has long disagreed with the ruling, prompting the lawsuit’s announcement in 2023
More than 13 years after their son was found dead under mysterious circumstances, a family's lawsuit accusing law agencies of covering up his murder has been dismissed.
On Jan. 11, 2013, 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson was found dead, upside down and wrapped in a wrestling mat in the gym at Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Ga.
Johnson's death was ruled accidental by authorities after an initial investigation at the time. It was hypothesized that he had suffocated after falling into the mat, which was standing upright and rolled up.
Investigators thought that he might have been trying to retrieve something that had gotten stuck in the mat.
His family did not believe the official story and conducted an investigation of their own, which included an independent investigation that suggested their son had suffered blunt force trauma.
In 2021, the case was reopened by the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office. However, Sheriff Ashley Paulk ultimately determined that there was no evidence of foul play, according to reporting by CBS News.
This led to his parents, Kenneth and Jacquelyn Johnson, announcing the $1 billion lawsuit in September 2023, according to reporting by 11Alive at the time. The Lowndes County Sheriff's Office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation were amongst the agencies named in the suit.
The lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge more than two years later on Friday, March 6, 2026.
In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Sarah Geraghty did not deny that there were "inconsistencies" in the investigating of Kendrick's death.
"The Court again expresses its concern about the inconsistencies between the various official reports on KJ's death and Plaintiffs' allegations," she wrote, via CBS and 11Alive.
However, she ruled that GBI was "was immune," citing the Eleventh Amendment, per CBS. In another technicality, she said that Lowndes County had not been "properly served within 90 days of the complaint being filed."
A piece of evidence in the suit — a surveillance video, which appeared to have been altered — was also ruled as being "outside the statute of limitations."
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Credit: David Goldman/AP
Geraghty quoted the coroner's report in her dismissal, noting that they had describing "the investigative climate" as being "very poor to worse."
"He reported that law enforcement did not cooperate with him, KJ's body had been moved, and the sealed body bag had been opened," she wrote.
11Alive reported that the Johnson family was planning to appeal the ruling as well as a complaint against Geraghty.
Kenneth addressed the decision in a statement shared with 11Alive: "If the message is not clear enough, let me make it clear as crystal right now, anyone, regardless of who you are, what position of power and influence you may hold, if you choose the join the murder cover-up scandal of my son Kendrick, you do so at your own peril."
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