Directed by Jason Pollock, Finding Kendrick Johnson is less about visual style and more about providing insight into a case that is often forgotten. Jason Pollock Throughout the investigation, the Bell brothers insisted they had not seen Kendrick on the day . The young mans parents are convinced that the Bell boys know what happened to their son. Both have examined the matter and publicly repudiated the ongoing smear campaign against the respected FBI agent and his family. So immediately Parks and Crump used their old playbook and began to call for the Social Justice crowd to create an alternate version of events, evidence and even reality. Was it ignored on purpose? This fact has never been disputed, even by his parents. Kendricks body was intact and all organs accounted for at the time of death. This, despite there being absolutely no evidence of their involvement, AND airtight alibies including being hundreds of miles away at the time. Investigative nterviews indicated students routinely went into the old gym to play basketball between classes. Thank you for standing with our men and women in blue! Brian Bell, one of the agents sons named in the Johnson wrongful death lawsuit, posted his reactions to the federal on social media, as was reported in First Coast News: Rick Bells son, Brian, posted this to Instagram. The suit alleges the boys' family conspired with former Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine and county school officials to cover up the death. Similar searches were conducted on the two brothers, who live elsewhere and a girlfriend of one of the brothers, according to the Associated Press. His organs were removed, examined and microscopic slides were made of all his organs during the first autopsy. The Lowndes County Sheriffs office explained that on January 10, Johnson entered the wrestling mat to retrieve a lost shoe and got stuck. "I want everyone to know the truth," Branden Bell told WSBTV in his first media interview. He's covered some of the biggest trials this decade, from Hemy Neuman to Ross Harris to Chip Olsen, the latter of which was featured on Season 7 of the AJC's award-winning "Breakdown" podcast. Breaden said "Kendrick was back at the house" right after the fight. (read more), Im not a lawyer, but having seen ALL of the action taken by Daryl Parks and Benjamin Crump in this case, against thetotally innocent Bell family, my opinion is the countersuit will be easily won by them if any jury sees the facts of the malicious and specifically intentional attack. Using their race-defined foot soldiers, mostly college aged students and social justice types, and combining the grievance methods of the AME church network in conjunction with cultural advocates like Russell Simmons et al, Parks and Crump begin to formulate a strategy -to benefit from Kendrick Johnson- DESPITE the reality. WE CLEARLY NOT LOUD ENOUGH. Paulk estimated it might take six months to process everything. As Johnson reached to retrieve the shoes, he apparently became trapped in the narrow opening in the center of the mat. All the others were based upon either second or third-hand information. The Bell family countersued, accusing the Johnsons of using others as their authorized agents to post messages on various social media, including Facebook, Twitter, blogs, instant messaging, and the like, that were defamatory of the Bells. The Bells also sued Ebony magazinein a $5 million slander and libel suit, based on articles accusing their sonsthrough the use of aliasesof being involved in Kendrick Johnsons death. In 2013, the 17-year-olds body was found upside down inside a rolled-up gym mat at a Georgia high school; he'd suffocated to death. One day Kendrick didnt come home from school. What the family of Kendrick Johnson most likely didnt know was for Daryl Parks and Benjamin Crump the timing of January 2013 was not the best. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. heres some information on the Kendrick Johnson case. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. On January 11, 2013, a Black teenager, Kendrick Johnson, was found dead and rolled up inside a wrestling mat by his classmates at Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia. Johnsons parents, who also filed a lawsuit against the Lowndes County Board of Education and the board members, have been fighting for over two years to establish the truth and seek justice for their son. He was beat to death and covered in bruises. Myth #3: The Bell brothers killed Kendrick and hid him in the mat and had their dad, a now-retired FBI agent hide the evidence. All Rights Reserved, The Case of Kendrick Johnson is Gaining Renewed Attention, Opinion: Trump Didnt Take Care of His Sick Staffers and he Wont Take Care of You, Atlantas Spa Killings Were the Culmination of Years of Anti-Asian Sentiment, Lacrae Was Called Out For Letting Pastor Refer to White Privilege as White Blessing. Despite the lack of physical evidence, despite autopsy results declaring Kendricks death to be the result of positional asphyxiation, and despite what The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has reported as seemingly ironclad alibis firmly placing both Bell sons in locations far from the old gym, U.S. Attorney Moore issued Agent Bell and his two sons target letters. Such letters may be issued when, according to internal guidelines, the prosecutor or grand jury has substantial evidence linking them to the commission of a crime and who is thereby a likely defendant. What Involvement Did a FBI Agent and His Sons Have in the Death of Kendrick Johnson? Myth #5: The Bells have admitted to killing Kendrick on various occasions and in front of various witnesses. 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson was found dead in a rolled-up gym mat. But Johnson's parents said they suspect foul play, claiming that he was bullied and beaten over a previous fight with Brian before being stuffed in the mat. Over the years, the Johnsons have publicly implicated brothers Brian and Branden Bell in Kendrick's death. The litigation is in response to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Kenneth and Jacquelyn Johnson, contending the Bell sons were involved in KJs death at Lowndes High School and that local law officers and school officials covered it up as an accident. Because of this, the time stamps on the videos were not in sync with each other . But that white hot anger can also make one blind to the facts. On January 11, 2013, the Johnson family was told that Kendrick had died. Bell was never charged or considered as a suspect, Lowndes County Sheriff Lt. Stryde Jones said. He confirmed in media interviews that KJ was not beaten. Johnsons family found this conclusion insufficient and conducted an independent autopsy with William R. Anderson at Forensic Dimensions in Heathrow, Florida. ", Kendrick Johnsons body has been exhumed twice in recent years. Johnson's death was ruled an accident by local authorities, who claimed that he reached into the mat to retrieve his shoe, got stuck and asphyxiated. The cameras in the old gym recorded at a rate of 1 FPS (frame per second). When you are outside the situation, fairly anonymous behind the screen the entertainment from such stories has an irresistible draw. Small studio well furnished and fully equipped. When they went to see his body at the crime scene, they discovered a gruesome sight: Kendricks bloodied body inside a rolled-up mat in the school gymnasium. But not everyone in the Sheriffs Office appears to be on the same page. Mamie Till Bradley, Tills mother, put his brutalized corpse on display at the funeral so that America could see the consequence of racism in the Jim Crow. He eventually suffocated in the narrow space. Stryde Jones, commander of the criminal investigation division, told an inquiring law student the case has not been reopened. County investigators ruled Johnsons death accidental, a case of positional asphyxia, claiming he got stuck while reaching for a shoe at the center of the gym mat. When the current Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk decided to review the case in March of 2021, Kendrick was put back in the spotlight. Get our latest storiesin the feed of your favorite networks. Officer Michael Edington, Jr. with his father, Officer Michael Edington. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. The videos from the extensive number of cameras at LHS were saved to 6 different servers. Many believe that there is a satisfactory amount of evidence to charge the Bell brothers with the murder of Kendrick Johnson. Two years before the death, their younger son was in a brief shoving match with Johnson on a bus to their teams football game. The third autopsy came after the Johnsons submit a sworn affidavit from someone that claimed BB1 told him that BB2 beat Kendrick with a 45-lb weight. Using case records including police reports, court records, autopsies, photographs, etc. The Bell family filed a countersuit in March, claiming the Johnson family defamed them on social media, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported. But in the end, the truth will prevail and everybody will find me and my brother are innocent and have always been innocent.". Local and state investigators had already determined Johnsons death was an accident. They each provided alibis, saying they were not near the gym where Kendrick . There are no suspects because we havent made a determination as to whether or not this was murder, Paulk added. The Bells father, a former FBI agent, is accused of directing officials to obscure the investigation, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Even if Kendricks organs had been available for Dr. Anderson during his second autopsy, they would offer little in the way of information due to decomposition in the six months between Kendricks death and the subsequent exhumation in the summer of 2013. Earlier this month: [] Florida State declined to offer three-star linebacker Brian Bell an official scholarship despite a more than year-long commitment to the Lowndes High School (Georgia) star. In 2018, an independent autopsy indicated signs of foul play in the teen's death, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Johnson's parents claim the two Bell brothers "violently assaulted" Johnson at their father's command and that Johnson "suffered a fatal injury which led to his death." Its clear Pollock picked a side and is doing as good a job or better at gathering evidence than those in charge of this case. If you choose to Accept all, we will also use cookies and data to. The undisputed facts for those unfamiliar with the case. I wont pretend I havent been guilty of the same. The Bell brothers have since admitted to their roles in the murder of Johnson, and a formal report was voluntarily given by Ryan Anthony Domek-Hernandez in 2017. VALDOSTA, Ga. In a partially redacted analysis report containing previously unreleased photographs, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has concluded former Lowndes High student Brian Bell and another student unrelated to Bell were at another part of the campus when Kendrick Johnson was last seen going into the schools old gym. Last month, Bell was listed as a defendant in a wrongful death suit filed by Kenneth and Jackie Johnson, the parents of Kendrick Johnson, whose body was found rolled up in a gym mat in the Lowndes High gymnasium. The team was excused from 3rd block class to attend first lunch (~11:3012:00) and left on the bus around 12:1512:30. Brianna Mitchell (@mitchell_brii) July 4, 2020. Karen Bell, mother of Brian and Branden Bell, said she was disappointed with Paulks decision but wasnt surprised. Unsatisfied with that account, Johnsons parents had his body exhumed and examined by forensic pathologist Dr. William Anderson in June of 2013. Law enforcers from the Lowndes County Sheriffs Department, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the Valdosta-Lowndes Regional Crime Laboratory quickly responded to the scene. Kendrick Johnsons body has been exhumed twice in recent years. There are new developments in the case of Kendrick Johnson, a 17-year-old Black student found dead in a school gym in Lowndes County, Ga. in 2013. These videos can be viewed without special software, but you will not see a time stamp. -Jamais Cascio, Crime Researcher and Writer B.A. Authorities were tight-lipped about whether the Bell brothers were suspects in Kendrick Johnsons death. This was either done to either a) sell them on the black market or b) make it impossible to determine time of death. Ignoring all the factors that would be needed to prove their son was the victim of a crime, the Johnson family and their attorneys prevailed upon the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, Michael Moore, to initiate a civil rights investigation into the matter. January 2013, for the professional race-baiting antagonists, was a time of consternation, trepidation and worry. "My only angle is to find justice for my son," she said. Kendrick did not return home on the night of January 10, 2013 and his mother called to report him missing around 00:30 hours on January 11, 2013. The Bell family's American Dream has turned to a nightmare, one that's accompanied by daily violent threats, threats against those who've supported their sons, by libelous published reports suggesting their sons were involved in Kendrick Johnson's death, and by a U.S. Attorney whose actions represent the excesses and abuses of Federal . Two points of contention are a November 2014 video released by the Johnson familys lawyer and a Facebook post on a KJ memorial site asking Florida State University to rescind a football scholarship offer to Bells youngest son. It was that or go to jail. Select More options to see additional information, including details about managing your privacy settings. The pain of losing a football scholarship due to accusations for a crime that never happened. Myth #1: His organs were removed when he was found. who had Kendricks organs and finger/toe nails removed so Kendricks time of death could not be determined. The FBI had previously said the siblings were in separate parts of the Valdosta-area high school at the time of Johnsons death. The law student has shared those emails online. Valdosta Today: Brian Bell Not Near Kendrick Johnson: Kendrick was upside down for almost 24 hours when he was found. Last month, the Bells' cellphones and computers were seized by federal marshals, and their parents' home was raided. Johnson's death was ruled an accident by local authorities. News of the re-openedinvestigation was welcomed by Johnsons family. However, the brothers still maintain their innocence in official settings and have faced little to no repercussions for their alleged involvement. The Orlando Sentinel has more on the falsely accused Brian Bell STORY HERE (non-paywall version HERE), and no-one has followed the Kendrick Johnson case as closely as Re-NewsIt STORY HERE and EXTENSIVE HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS HERE. George Zimmerman defense attorneys Don West and Mark OMara were honing in to the deception there was no: 16-year-old, minor child, devastated puppy love interest who Trayvon knew since Kindergarten and was so distraught she was hospitalized on the weekend of Trayvons funeral. Ultimately, the Seminoles backed off. Meanwhile, a forensic pathologist hired by the Johnson family concluded the death was a homicide, with evidence of unexplained, nonaccidental blunt force trauma.. Authorities ruled the death accidental after the 17-year-old was found between rolled-up wrestling mats. "I can't even remember" what the fight was about, he said. "It just keeps on getting worse.". However, as predicted, the Kendrick Johnson case is an outcome of not stopping the absurd behavior of both Daryl Parks and Benjamin Crump in 2013, in its tracks. However, as customary to a team who are skilled at using deception to advance their accusations, Parks and Crump just deployed the other strategy. Additionally, the claim that she lured Kendrick into the old gym so BB2 could beat him up is without merit. We aint cheering, but we know this is the only path that we can get for justice for Kendrick Johnson, Marcus Coleman said this week. 5 minutes walk to the Place des lphants and 12 minutes from the train station, the apartment is v. There is no evidence he was beaten, Anderson said. Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy. A state autopsy ruled the 17-year-olds death a freak accident. The anger of the social-justice types always works better when there is an identified enemy to target. All Rights Reserved. it was the son of a fucking retired FBI agent. The two brothers, both Caucasian, have said they were friends with Johnson, but have maintained that they didn't see Johnson on the day of his death. Similar to Johnsons parents, many believe the case was homicide and are seeking justice for the teenager. Acting Up's host, Cortney Wills, even brought up the fact that Ebony Magazine was sued for covering the Kendrick Johnson story because they implied the involvement of the Bell brothers in the . Nobody wants Kendrick to get justice. Branden and Brian Bell, the brothers accused of involvement in the January 2013 death of Georgia teenager Kendrick Johnson, are speaking out for the first time since the 17-year-old's body was . Theyve had enough of the injustice, Black people have had enough of the injustice, and they deserve better. And it was . That morning, a female student noticed a pair of feet inside a rolled-up wrestling mat in the schools old, secondary gymnasium. He was marked present during this class and this was confirmed by not only his teacher but fellow students. Confession #3 came just 2 days before the Johnsons were ordered to pay $300k in legal fees because the claims in their civil suit filed against 38+ defendants were deemed substantially frivolous, substantially groundless, or substantially vexatious by the presiding judge. Honor Flight receives warm welcome to D.C. publicfile@live5news.com - (843) 402-5555, Johnson had entered the old gym area en route to his fourth block class, for which he never arrived. In the 8 years since Kendricks tragic passing, his case has been investigated by the Lowndes County Sheriffs Department (LCSD), Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the local branch of the NAACP and the Department of Justice (DOJ). The sheriff described the re-examination into Kendrick Johnsons death as afinal effort to bring some closure to the teens family.