Kendrick Johnson Part One

In January 2013, 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson was found dead inside a rolled-up gym mat at Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia. Officials quickly ruled his death an accident, but Kendrick's family believes otherwise. Join us for part one of the Kendrick Johnson case, which remains mysterious and controversial. 

Intro music by Joe Buck Yourself
Hosts Heather and Dylan 
www.mountainmurderspodcast.com 

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/mountain-murders--3281847/support.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Dark Cast Network.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Come to the dark side of podcasts.

Speaker 3 (00:05):
We have cookies.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Wookers love cookies.

Speaker 4 (00:11):
There, I'm down and I'm Cole and Scottish Murders is
a true crime podcast dedicated to people.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
From or living in Scotland.

Speaker 4 (00:26):
Just like anywhere else in the world, these murders can
be truly horrific and shocking and we want to shine
more light upon them. Join us every two weeks on
Scottish Murders, where we'll bring you cases both solved and unsolved,
giving you an insight into the other side of Bonnie Scotland.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
Find us wherever you stream your podcasts, as well as
on social media. Join us Therebye.

Speaker 4 (01:11):
On his way.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
Devil is on his way.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
Devil is on his way.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
Mother for the Devil gonna make you pay foul to
your knees. Devil is on his way. Fall to your knees.
Devil gonna make you pay fall to your knees.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
Devil.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
Hey, y'all, welcome back to Mountain Murders and I'm Daling.
Hey Dylan, what's up girl?

Speaker 3 (01:40):
How are you today?

Speaker 2 (01:41):
I have relived part of my youth. Explain last night
I did relive part of my youth. We went and
saw a great show jaw Rule, Nellie and Chingy. I
like the way you do that from back in the day. Ah. Yeah,
it was a great show. It was a fun, fun crowd.

(02:04):
Everybody was just having a good time.

Speaker 3 (02:06):
And uh yeah, it was nice to see everybody up
dancing like people were just really having a great time.
And I'd love to see that at concerts or just anywhere,
people who were just like truly enjoying themselves.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
Now, I have to say, when I think of a
rap concert, you always think of the muffled you can't
really hear what they're saying. Kind of a lot going
on stage. But I must say a jaw Rule in
particularly did a really great stage show.

Speaker 3 (02:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
It was good, good mix of you know, like video
screens and that man is stacked. It was mixed. Well.

Speaker 3 (02:43):
I don't know how old jaw roill be, but Joe
Rule is built. He's stacked.

Speaker 2 (02:47):
Yeah, but it's a great show and loads of fun,
but he's stacked.

Speaker 3 (02:52):
Bro.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yeah. It was muscle, had a little bit of muscle,
a little bit. Yeah, dang, Yeah, he was he was.
He was a big dog. He was.

Speaker 3 (03:02):
I mean, I guess it's like I always knew especially
you know, back in the early two thousands, Like I
always kind of knew like he was a muscled up
guy or whatever. But I guess just seeing him on
stage and then on the big screens, right, I was
blown away. And maybe that's just because I pay more
attention now that we are into like fitness and weightlifting,
but I was like, Damn, that man is built.

Speaker 2 (03:23):
No, he was. I wonder what his routine is, Oh.

Speaker 3 (03:27):
Gosh, because I cannot compete.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
Lots of clean eating.

Speaker 3 (03:30):
Oh gosh, that's the hard part for me.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
That's the hardest part, hard part for me, Dylan.

Speaker 3 (03:36):
Before we get started with today's episode, which is going
to be a two parter, but let me explain, we
will drop part two as our midweek episode, so you
will not have to wait like an entire week before
you get the second part. Right, actually polled our listeners
to find out if they like two parters or just
one big long episode. They like the big long one stilling.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
They like the big ones, and they like the external
life ones.

Speaker 3 (04:00):
Oh God like it when it's lengthy.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
Damn.

Speaker 3 (04:03):
Yeah, So that's good going forward now, I know. It's
good to know, can Taylor of the episodes for our listeners.

Speaker 2 (04:12):
Taste that age old question has finally been answered, right, Yes,
lanmph does matter.

Speaker 3 (04:19):
So, like I said, two parts, but we'll make sure
we get the second part out to you sooner than later. Dylan,
let's discuss the Carolina's Horror Fest.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
I can't wait, bro.

Speaker 3 (04:32):
October fourth, twenty twenty five. We're gonna be at Carolina
horror Fest and I cannot wait to get spooky with
all of y'all October fourth at the Haywood Park Hotel
in Asheville, North Carolina.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
Yes, that's going to be a blast.

Speaker 3 (04:47):
We are going to have a full day of horror icons,
special guests, local artists, vendors. There's going to be a
cosplay contest. Okay, and I know you've been dying to
try out your little Silent Hill nurse up.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
I would make a great Silent.

Speaker 3 (05:01):
Hill nurse, pretty sexy. I'm excited about that. And then
they are also gonna have a panel like Q and
As and so much more, Dylan, and I'm really excited
we will be there. Tickets are only twenty dollars. Kids
eleven and under are free. Okay, you got any little
mini horror fans, there's some out there. Yeah, I think
Wednesday the Netflix show has kind of introduced a new

(05:25):
generation to the spooky, creepy horror stuff.

Speaker 2 (05:28):
Oh you think so?

Speaker 3 (05:29):
Yeah, nice, I think so, Dylan. So Carolina is horror Fest.
Make sure you get your tickets. It's gonna be so
much fun. And again we'll be there, dude.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
Penhead's gonna be there.

Speaker 3 (05:40):
Pen Head's gonna be there.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah, whoa the actor that played Pinhead originally.

Speaker 3 (05:45):
That's awesome.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
I know, it's incredible.

Speaker 3 (05:46):
So many people are gonna be there. It's gonna be
really fun. All right, Dylan, moving along, Let's get into
today's episode. Are you ready?

Speaker 2 (05:54):
I am ready. Let's get started.

Speaker 3 (05:56):
This is one of those cases that I think kind
of lives rent for in a lot of true crime fans,
psyche because it's such a mysterious case. Okay, So today
we're headed to Valdosta, Georgia to discuss the mysterious Kendrick
Johnson case.

Speaker 2 (06:15):
This case. I've always thought about this ever since I
first heard about it, and it's always seemed like such
an odd case. Right, So, on the one hand, they
see either just a totally freak accident one in a million.

Speaker 3 (06:31):
Now you're giving it away spoiler alert.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
Or some nefarious acts happened. It's one or the other.

Speaker 3 (06:38):
Well, we're going to get into it today and hopefully
by the end of part two our listeners will maybe
have a little better understanding of the case and perhaps
draw their own conclusions.

Speaker 2 (06:49):
Yeah, it's because, Yes, I think it's very important this
case to look at the whole story.

Speaker 3 (06:53):
And I've noticed there's a lot it seems like there are.
It's kind of one of those cases that divides the
truth community. A lot of people have differing but very
strong opinions on this case.

Speaker 2 (07:05):
I agree that's that's a great description of it.

Speaker 3 (07:08):
So let's go. Kendrick was born. Which about the name.
I like the name Kendrick.

Speaker 2 (07:12):
It's awesome name.

Speaker 3 (07:12):
Cool name. Kendrick was born October tenth, nineteen ninety five,
to Kenneth and Jackie Johnson in Valdosta, Georgia. He was
known as kJ to his friends and family. Although I
couldn't find a lot about his early years, and you know,
I like to do a good deep dive, I did
find out a little bit of info about him. He

(07:33):
was very talented as far as athletics from an early age.

Speaker 2 (07:38):
Oh so the opposite of me.

Speaker 3 (07:40):
You get him on the court and he's troubled, Dylan.
He played a lot of different sports from the time
he was just a little guy and was a natural.
Football was his greatest passion, and by all accounts, Kendrick
was a standout on the field as a hard hitting safety.
He stood five foot ten and weighed about one hundred
and sixty pounds.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
Okay, kJ was not.

Speaker 3 (08:01):
Only a skilled sportsman, but he was smart. Kendrick was
on the on a roll at Lowndes High School. Kendrick
was also a popular student. He had what some folks
call a magnetic personality. You've got one of those, Dylan.
You just attract friends everywhere we go.

Speaker 2 (08:18):
Oh yeah, we attract a lot of things.

Speaker 3 (08:21):
He attracted a lot of friends, and Kendrick definitely had
the attention of the school's female population.

Speaker 2 (08:27):
So it sounds like Kendrick has it all.

Speaker 3 (08:30):
He Yeah, he does. He's got it going on, Dylan.
I mean, he's got all the things I think that
a young person wants. Right. He's smart, he's talented, he's
a good looking, athletics, he's cool, he's popular.

Speaker 2 (08:43):
So you know, oftentimes you get someone who's very good
with the sports and their schoolwork will kind of fall off.
And it's not because you're dumb. I mean, it's not
like you were just.

Speaker 3 (08:55):
Busy bouncing schedules, mult tasking. I mean, it can be
a lot of work for a young person, a bit
overwhelming at times.

Speaker 2 (09:01):
Yeah, the sports and sales, especially if you're a standout
and you practice a lot and do all the extras
to try to, you know, get better on the field
or court, then it's like you don't have as much
time honestly to you know, invest heavily into your academics.
So I think it's amazing when you see a student

(09:21):
who's able to sell in the academics and sports at
the same time.

Speaker 3 (09:27):
I mean, it sounds like he really does excel on
all fronts.

Speaker 2 (09:30):
It's really just a testament to how much of a
hard worker they are, because yeah, I mean, it just
takes a ton of work to keep up with all
that and still do all the practice.

Speaker 3 (09:40):
It takes dedication, discipline. Yeah, there's a lot that goes
into maintaining your grades while also being of star athletes.
He was also described doing it as just being a
good person. Kendrick had a very large extended family and
he loved them all. He was close with all of them, aunts, uncles, cousins,

(10:01):
And I think there's something to say for a person
who truly loves their family and makes an effort to
be in their lives, especially young people, because at that
age you can get caught up with school and friends.
You're working toward the future, whether that's college or some
other goal, and sometimes young people don't have time or
they just sort of forget about their extended.

Speaker 2 (10:20):
Families, right.

Speaker 3 (10:22):
I always like to see those close knit families. I mean,
I have a lot of fond childhood memories of when
my extended family would get together for like Christmas at
my great grandparents' house, or for like a wedding anniversary
or something. There was just a special feeling about having
everyone together in one place. Yeah, And I think Kendrick
really enjoyed that. He loved the family reunions, he loved

(10:45):
the holidays that get togethers. And I think it's cool
when you have an extended family like that and you've
got like a lot of cousins because of growing up,
if you're like an only child or something, having those
cousins and those tight relationships, it's almost like having a
Builton brother. Or sister. Yeah, and you have playmates as well.

Speaker 2 (11:04):
Yeah, definitely, And it's just good to have a support
I've always been a bit jealous of people who do
have this, because it seems so nice to have that
build in support network, you know, not just your mom
and dad or your direct brother and sisters, but these
other people that truly care for you, Yeah, and would
do stuff to help you or give you advice things

(11:26):
like that.

Speaker 3 (11:28):
Yet, others have said things that were not always perfect
at home. As far as Kendrick's household, there were rumors
that Kj's father, Kenneth, had moved in with a girlfriend.
Others say that Jackie wasn't very involved, and it was
reported that Kendricks spent a lot of time at friends' houses. Now,
this could be normal teenage behavior, right, Well, yeah, I

(11:50):
remember when I met you, your daughter had a best
friend that practically lived with you guys. Yeah, Like every
time we would go out where I would come to
visit you, the friend was always over, like she was
the extra child.

Speaker 2 (12:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (12:03):
So I think that's not uncommon, No, and.

Speaker 2 (12:06):
It always does. It doesn't mean bad things all the time,
you know. I think some kids just kind of get
in the habit of that, or you know, in away
you're almost sometimes kind of spreading your wings, becoming a
little more independent, you know.

Speaker 3 (12:20):
Yeah, I mean I had a friend when I was younger,
and I would stay over at her house all the time.
We had basketball practice together, So there were a lot
of times that, like after practice, I would go home
with her and spend the night, even on school nights, right,
because it was not strange for us to spend the
night at each other's house on school nights. It was
like when I wasn't at her house, she was at

(12:42):
my house kind of thing. I mean, we were practically
inseparable at that age. So I think, you know, this
could be a sign that Kendrick is just doing normal
teenage things and he likes hanging out with his friends
and being around his buddies. Or it could be a
sign maybe that things weren't great at home and maybe
he didn't want to be involved in whatever was happening there.
But I don't have a full picture of that, you know,

(13:04):
it's just kind of based on what others have said.
All right, Dylan, So I thought I'd been getting my
first by first mentioning there was a fight that happened
in fall of twenty twelve, and I just want folks
to kind of keep this in the back of their
brain because it's going to be important, especially in the
second part of our story. So in twenty twelve, there

(13:26):
was a fight on a school bus. They were riding
home from a game and a student named Brian Bell
and kJ got into an argument. Belle claimed that kJ
was seeing his girlfriend behind his back, but the coaches
were kind of able to break up this fight. They
talked it out a bit, and it did seem like
everybody calmed down. However, this didn't really mend fences between

(13:49):
these two young men. I mean, they still didn't like
each other and they weren't friends, but they also were
not going to be at each other's throats, right right.
Rumors continued over the next few months that Bell's girlfriend
was seeing kJ. It has been suggested that maybe they
were being intimate.

Speaker 2 (14:06):
Oh my gosh, and we all know what this age.

Speaker 3 (14:09):
Hormones are raging, our frontal lobes aren't fully developed, and
we also think those high school relationships are the most
important loves of our lives sometimes.

Speaker 2 (14:20):
Well, and also your definition of seeing someone is you know,
quite different. Like it's just like if I held their
hand after third period, like we're going together now, you
know what I mean. I mean, of course, there's very
many different, very variations of that, right, But it's not like,

(14:41):
you know, it didn't move in together.

Speaker 3 (14:44):
Right. And I'm not knocking high school relationships, because there
are people who find each other in high school.

Speaker 2 (14:49):
Well that's what it should be.

Speaker 3 (14:51):
Get together and like get married and are still married,
you know, thirty years later, forty years later, and they
really did find the love of their life at a
young age.

Speaker 2 (14:58):
Well, yeah, I think in those cases it's just people
coming across their soulmate when they're in a very young age.

Speaker 3 (15:04):
But I think to be realistic, most of us probably
look back at maybe our high school girlfriend or boyfriend
and we're like, yeah, maybe that it's good that didn't
work out right, right, Well, but we all know as
well that jealousy and insecurity can come into play, especially
with people kind of spilling this type of tea around school.

(15:26):
Like if you have folks spreading rumors and a lot
of times, I mean I remember being a young person
in high school, a lot of the rumors were just
so sensational. Yeah, and you knew they weren't true about someone.

Speaker 2 (15:38):
Like I heard they took a private jet to Vegas.

Speaker 3 (15:40):
Yeah, but then there's still these rumors are going around
about people, but you knew they were kind of over
the top and ridiculous, and you maybe didn't know the
source of the rumor.

Speaker 2 (15:49):
Now, I will say in the modern day, obviously with
the social media's and everybody having a phone in their pocket,
that it probably changes the dynamics of room and stuff
like that, you know what I mean, It accelerates them,
makes it way more public, it spreads a lot faster,
So I guess that could be an issue.

Speaker 3 (16:09):
But I would say it probably stands true that there
were students who were jealous of kJ. I mean, after all,
he was good looking, charismatic, got a lot of attention. Now,
obviously kJ isn't doing anything wrong by just being himself.
And if that's the kind of person he is, and
he's able to just attract this kind of attention, I mean,

(16:30):
it's like he can't help it. Right.

Speaker 2 (16:32):
Well, that's no different than adult men may see a
guy who's handsome, you know, got the good job and
makes good money, and you know, but see when I
see when someone like that. Honestly, I don't you fall
in love with him? No, I don't. I don't want
to start be Broski's with him. I don't feel jealous,
like I'm not.

Speaker 3 (16:52):
Sure you start admiring him and you're like, wow, look
how good his arms look in that shirt or that
shirt looks so good on his form fitted body.

Speaker 2 (17:00):
It's okay, I will say. Now I'll be like, I
wonder what that guy's doing to get his shoulders.

Speaker 3 (17:04):
It's okay, Dylan, everything. Can I appreciate that you can
appreciate a handsome, hard working athletic man.

Speaker 2 (17:14):
Well, I don't think like, wow, I'm jealous of that guy,
but I just like, Wow, that guy's got it going on, right,
you know, I'm happy for him. I mean, you're killing
it right, Yeah. I mean I truly feel like that
when I see someone I don't wish that was me,
or it doesn't instantly make me like what am I

(17:35):
doing wrong? You know? I don't compare myself.

Speaker 3 (17:37):
No, I don't either. I mean, gosh, I feel like
I'm I'm always complimenting people, and sometimes I'm like afraid
I'm come on too strong, or that I'm like weirding
people out you know, I always say, like, I'm not
trying to be weird, but like you're stunning. And yeah,
when I see a beautiful woman, a beautiful young lady,
I don't mind a compliment or tell her like, you
look great, you're gorgeous. I love your outfit, I love

(17:58):
your hair, you know whatever. But it's not really a
jealous thing. And I guess some people do have those
tinges of jealousy.

Speaker 2 (18:08):
Right, And I think I try to. I think men
should get better at doing.

Speaker 3 (18:11):
That, be complimentary to each other.

Speaker 2 (18:13):
Yeah. So you see a guy is a nice shirt on,
he just looks good tonight or whatever. You can tell
he's feeling his celf.

Speaker 4 (18:18):
No.

Speaker 3 (18:18):
I know, like we'll be out somewhere and you'll be like,
that guy looks really nice and you can tell he
really like took time to get ready and he looks nice,
you know.

Speaker 2 (18:26):
Yeah, and you shouldn't be afraid to say, hey, man,
you look great tonight, you know, or something. But yeah,
I do do that, the small compliments and stuff, because
I think it's well, it's I mean, I mean it's
from a sincere place, but a lot of people are
kind of taking him back from that.

Speaker 3 (18:42):
Yeah, I know, right, Yeah, Like I don't want to
be the weird old person. But right, but every time
I'm like go through the Chick fil A drive through
to get my tea, They're all the girls that work
there are like so pretty, the gorgeous little girls, you know,
and I always be like, you're so pretty. And then
I think they're probably worded out because some of them
are like.

Speaker 2 (19:01):
Thanks, Well, it's better than me going through there saying
you sure are prety.

Speaker 3 (19:05):
Well, that would be a little creepy.

Speaker 2 (19:08):
Maybe I know I'm old enough to be your daddy,
but I'm just trying to tell you, you, pretty little
thing today he looked good.

Speaker 3 (19:16):
Now, okay, we'll get back to our story here. But
I just want to say young people today, and I
guess maybe I will say young women because I definitely
probably just being female. Check out young you know women,
not just young women. That sounds creepy, wow, but check
out women more, you know, because you're like, oh, look
she's got Q shoes or well of her hair or

(19:37):
her bag or whatever. But these young girls, these young
women today are killing it.

Speaker 2 (19:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (19:43):
I mean when we were in high school, we were
all so gawky and awkward.

Speaker 2 (19:46):
Well, they know, how to content.

Speaker 3 (19:48):
We had horrible, Like our makeup looked bad. I mean,
we could admit that we probably were wearing foundation that
was like four shades darker than we needed to be
wearing or lighter. You know. We all had goofy hair,
and like, you know, jeans and T shirts were like
a staple. You know, it wasn't really like a fashion show.
But man, these young girls today, they look so pretty.

(20:10):
They know how to do their hair, they know how
to do their makeup, they know how to dress. You know,
you pull it up to like a high school and
it's like a fashion show, right, and I'm just like
in awe of like wow, you know, these young women
are really doing the damn thing or.

Speaker 2 (20:25):
The ultimate creeper line. If I was twenty years younger,
I'm pretty.

Speaker 3 (20:30):
Sure my grandma used that line on you before she
passed away.

Speaker 2 (20:34):
Yeah she did, and she meant it.

Speaker 3 (20:36):
She did, Yeah, all right, and she did mean it. Dylian.
She would have climbed you like you were in the
woodpile out back. So you know, he's not doing anything
wrong by being himself. And Kendrick was also of the
mindset that like if a girl was interested in him,
he was gonna get to know her.

Speaker 2 (20:54):
Why get in the way of nature? You know, you
can't stop a natural force like that.

Speaker 3 (20:58):
It's true. Our mystery begins on January tenth of twenty thirteen,
when Kendrick was at school, he headed over to what
has been described as the old gym to retrieve some
personal belongings. And I remember, not in high school, but
at my junior high or middle school, we had an
old gym. And this old gym was built like in

(21:21):
nineteen twenty when the building was built, right, and it
was old as hell. But then we had like a
nice new gym. But like if you were practicing basketball
or having pea class, a lot of times they would,
you know, hold those in the old facility.

Speaker 2 (21:36):
Yeah. Oftentimes they serve as an auxiliary building of sorts, right, Yeah,
where you do the kind of second tier stuff there
when you know the other space is taken up.

Speaker 3 (21:46):
So he had headed over to this old gym to
retrieve some personal belongings. Apparently kJ had placed these items
are stored them near some gym mats. And these mats, Dylan,
are going to be in integral part of our case. Now.
These are not like little yoga mats. They're not like
the little lightweight mats you find it the gym that

(22:08):
you can go do like some core exercises on. You know,
these are heavy duty gym mats.

Speaker 2 (22:14):
Right. They're huge. They're big, like six.

Speaker 3 (22:17):
Foot by three foot. When they weren't being used, these
mats were rolled up for storage purposes. Some of the
mats were standing up, while others were kind of laying
on the ground. But these mats were fairly large when
they were rolled up. The inside diameter of these mats
is around fourteen inches.

Speaker 2 (22:36):
Right.

Speaker 3 (22:37):
The mats were placed next to the bleachers in the
corner of the gym, and this is not an uncommon
thing to see. I think a lot of times they
use these mats for wrestling, for tumbling, like the cheerleaders
or gymnastics, you know, use it for tumbling, right, right.
I was just saying that so people get an idea

(22:57):
of the type of mats I'm talking about to.

Speaker 2 (23:00):
Kind of match you. I mean, a lot of people
are familiar with them, have seen them in some form
or another. Once you put them all out, the entire
gym floors covered or yeah, you know, they're just.

Speaker 3 (23:09):
Big, yeah, And it's the type of thing that like
it's a lot of work to take them apart and
put them back right. Thing. It seems like it was
a pretty common practice for students to store things in
these mats between classes. Students did this a lot of
times to avoid walking to their lockers between classes. And
also it was pretty expensive at the school.

Speaker 2 (23:32):
To rent a locker, which is kind of weird to me.

Speaker 3 (23:35):
Yeah, I don't. I mean, we never had to rent
a locker. You were issued one, right because we used
it was up to you.

Speaker 2 (23:42):
You needed a locker for you know, many reasons.

Speaker 3 (23:46):
Yeah, Kg and another student were also sharing a pair
of Adidas gym shoes and they were storing those in
these mats. So after gym class, Johnson would quote go
to the mats, jump up and toss the shoes kind
of inside that middle hole because remember it's like a
fourteen inch diameter, and the shoes would sort of just
get stuck at the top and then you could just

(24:06):
go retrieve them and that way. You know, sharing these shoes,
they're not really like walking, you know, walking around with shoes.
You don't have to do the locker thing. You don't
have to like carry you know, everybody have individual shoes.
You just kind of back and forth with your buddy.

Speaker 2 (24:21):
Now, you mentioned, actually I never knew that any of this,
That the students, often some of the students, you know,
stashed items in and around these mats, And you said
you didn't know if him and a friend were sharing
shoes out of just something convenient convenience between them. We
don't have to keep reason, I'm sure, or out of

(24:43):
some kind of financial necessity, you know, one letting the
other borrow their shoes in essence, so that that that's
not clear. But the fact is students did store things
in and around the mats, and kJ was known to
be sharing shoes with another student. Right now.

Speaker 3 (25:01):
I remember some of my classes in high school being
so far away from my locker, and there was never
time to walk there between classes to trade out books.
And I remember, I think it was like my freshman year,
carrying three or four classes worth of books and binders.
I mean, to the point that my backpack looked like
it was going to rip open at the seams at

(25:22):
any minute. Yeah, right, And it was so heavy. And
I remember at one point during my freshman year and
I was so embarrassed because you know, everything your parents
do is embarrassing. It doesn't matter what it is. My
mom called the school to see if we could like
switch lockers because my back hurts so badly from carrying
around those books, and I would come home and have
like intentions shoulders from carrying around this heavy ass backpack.

Speaker 2 (25:46):
Did they get to another locker?

Speaker 3 (25:48):
Yes, I do remember getting another locker in a building
where I had classes, so it was a lot more convenient.
kJ shared these gym shoes, like I said, with actually
two other guys in class. Again, probably to just like
avoid carrying them around or whatever, so they stuck them
up in these mats. On a school security video, we
can see kJ in the hallway he enters into the

(26:10):
old gym. There are also some cameras in the old gym,
like placed on the doors. You can kind of see
who's coming and going. He enters the old gym around
one pm that day, No other students enter until about
three minutes later. And here's the thing, Dylan, those videos
are gonna be really important to this case as well. Right,
kJ is not seen leaving the gym at any point.

(26:32):
He does not attend the rest of his classes for
that day. kJ had planned to stay after school to
watch a basketball game and he would be home late,
and his mom knew this. But you know, as time
goes by, she's growing more concerned about her son's whereabouts.
At first, she thought maybe he was simply talking with
friends after the game and running late, or that he

(26:52):
had gone out for a bite to eat, that kind
of thing.

Speaker 1 (26:56):
You know.

Speaker 3 (26:57):
Sometimes kids don't always think of us us and call
us to let us know.

Speaker 2 (27:03):
Well, no, they have an intention to do one thing,
and then they get sidetracked having conversations. Somebody comes up
with an idea, Hey, let's grab a burger or something,
and their first thought is not Sometimes not let me
let mom and dad know where I'm at.

Speaker 3 (27:18):
Yeah, mom and dad are at home worried, and these
kids are just not even concerned that you're worried. They
don't even think about us.

Speaker 2 (27:25):
They're just having fun.

Speaker 3 (27:26):
I don't think about us. By ten pm, Jackie is
very worried, so she drives to the Lownes High School
to look for her son. And I should note that
Jackie is a bus driver with the Lowndes County Schools,
so it sounds like she's pretty familiar with the school
grounds how to move around, like where maybe the kids
hang out.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
Yeah, she's going to know a lot of that certain.

Speaker 3 (27:48):
Maybe a walkways, that kind of thing. After driving around,
she cannot locate kJ So then she went to some
other places she thought he might be. She couldn't find him.
And at this point, Jackie, panic is creeping in. You know,
you get that sinking feeling you don't know where your
child is. That's gonna eventually lead to a full blown

(28:08):
freak out right as time marches on with a no word.

Speaker 2 (28:13):
Well, yeah, and that's very in numerous cases, it's very understandable.

Speaker 3 (28:17):
And again, I think we've all had that experience as parents,
at least once you know your kid's hiding under a
rack in a clothing store or something, you lose sight
of them for just a few seconds, your heart drops.

Speaker 2 (28:29):
Yeah, it's like your stomach drops and your heart starts racing.

Speaker 3 (28:32):
Can't breathe, and you're like where are you?

Speaker 2 (28:34):
And your mind's racing and you're thinking a million thoughts.

Speaker 3 (28:38):
Well, it doesn't get any better when your kids get older.
So parents, if you've got little ones out there, that
same word feeling, you're gonna have that probably forever. It's
really never gonna go away. You're always gonna wonder where
they are and want to make sure they're safe.

Speaker 2 (28:53):
Honestly, the older they get, I think the word feeling
gets stronger. It does because the possibility of what they've got,
their situation they've gotten themselves into, only intensifies as they
get older. Well there's that because then they become adult situations,
which can lead to obviously a lot stronger consequences than

(29:16):
you know, something kids might do.

Speaker 3 (29:17):
Well, Yeah, you introduced driving in cars. Yeah all right,
so now we've already like freaked out our young parents here.

Speaker 2 (29:26):
Oh no, but keep raising them. If you pass, keep
on doing and keep fading them, they're gonna be hoes.

Speaker 3 (29:32):
He's raising them, why like a squirrel?

Speaker 2 (29:33):
That's right, But throw them some nuts. He'll calm down
a minute.

Speaker 3 (29:36):
Jimmy, I'm sure by now Jackie's wondering, you know, like,
why hasn't her son called to check in? She's probably thinking,
is he heard? Is he okay? As something happened. Kenneth
Kj's dad was a truck driver and he was on
the road at the time. Jackie called him in Pennsylvania
relaying the information that their son has not come home.

(29:58):
After some discussion, they I thought it's best to call
the police. Now. It's nearing midnight. Around eleven forty five pm,
Jackie calls police to report that her son should have
been home hours earlier. She explained that she had gone
to the school, drove around trying to find him, and
that he had not called home at all. During this time,
she had spoken to several people who also did not

(30:20):
know where kJ had gone.

Speaker 2 (30:23):
Well, yeah, and I think they went about this in
a reasonable manner. You didn't as soon as you don't
hear from him. You didn't go straight to police. You
went and checked out his usual spots, you know, went
through your head of what he could be doing, trying
to figure it out. Give him some time if he
is just paling around with friends or something. But now
come about midnight. I don't blame you for being very worried.

Speaker 3 (30:47):
Well, yeah, I mean I've said it before. Nothing good
comes after midnight.

Speaker 2 (30:51):
No, and I'm sure he didn't typically stay out late
like that.

Speaker 3 (30:55):
You shouldn't feed them after midnight either, no, because they
turned grimlins, or get them yeah, oh yeah, The dispatcher
tells Jackie, there really isn't much they can do at
this point. She's just gonna have to wait it out
to see. You know, if he comes home, they suggest
kJ has just lost track of time or maybe went

(31:17):
somewhere because he didn't want to come home. Now, Dylan,
if you're a parent and you've got a minor child,
you call police. You hope to get some help, right.

Speaker 2 (31:29):
Well, yeah, because like I said, you've already tried other
methods you tried to give. You've already you've been giving
it some time all evening, right, and you've exhausted all
the things you think of instantly. The best friends, the girlfriends, boyfriends,
whatever places they may be, people that may be hanging
out with reasons. They might be a little bit late.

(31:49):
But see, you've already went through all this in your
mind as a parent.

Speaker 3 (31:52):
He done drove by the waffle.

Speaker 2 (31:53):
House, You've drove around the spot, you checked to school.
You may have reached out to close friends or other parents,
But at this point, once you come to police, you
almost have an expectation, whether it be a fair one
or not, of them saying, don't worry, we got it,
We got it from here right right, These are this

(32:14):
is what we're gonna do now.

Speaker 3 (32:15):
So how many times do we hear these stories like
a young person goes missing, a report is dismissed or
parents are told to wait it out. Jackie insists that
if kJ had not contacted her, he would have reached
out to his brother or sister. It was just unlike
her son to go without letting his family know where
he would be. Jackie and her mother, they just don't

(32:38):
know at this point. So now we've got kj's grandmother involved,
Jackie's mother. Kj's grandmother is praying while Jackie's waiting by
the phone. At this point, they don't know what to do,
and it doesn't seem like police is interested in helping out.

Speaker 2 (32:53):
No, just wait, give it more time.

Speaker 3 (32:57):
Gosh must speak so many issues with that just waited
out statement.

Speaker 2 (33:03):
And I've spoken before it's hard for investigators. This is
a strange situation in missing persons cases because there are
so many other things they do need to consider. But yeah,
so here you have a minor, you have a student
who lives at home with parents. I honestly think they

(33:24):
should maybe put react a little quick more quickly to
this could at least.

Speaker 3 (33:30):
Missing be on the lookout like a BOLO for this
young person.

Speaker 2 (33:34):
Yeah, we're gonna tell all on duty deputies to.

Speaker 3 (33:37):
Have your cruising around you happen to see this somebody
matching this description, just pull over, find out hey are
you kJ? Yeah, not a problem, something easy pasy around,
especially in a small town, because Valdosta is not like
a huge This is not New York City. This is
not Los Angeles where you've got and you're just crawling
with different departments and divisions and offices. It's like, no,

(33:59):
this is Valdosta. It's a small place. You could put
out a message like this for your on duty officers.

Speaker 2 (34:05):
There's probably five officers on duty. Yeah, something like that
like that. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (34:10):
Around four am, Jackie gets a call from law enforcement.
It had taken some convincing, but finally they were willing
to take this missing persons report and they had sent
it out. They confirmed that they were out looking for
her son. So it does sound like at this point,
finally officers are out driving around seeing if they can

(34:31):
locate this boy. By morning, kJ had not returned home.
As soon as the office doors opened on January eleventh,
Jackie was there. I think most parents would be there
right right. You're trying to find your child. After speaking
with staff members and trying to retrace Kj's steps. The
day before, one of the administrators, I think it was

(34:52):
a receptionist, suggested creating a flyer might help, Like they
could hang these flyers up around the hallways of the
school to see if anyone, like maybe one of his
friends or classmates could come forward with information.

Speaker 2 (35:06):
Well, and that's smart, get the news out in the
school very quickly, right, yeah, I think so.

Speaker 3 (35:12):
An email also was sent out to faculty and staff
members asking if anyone had seen or knew where the
whereabouts of kJ and when was the last time that
you had seen him yesterday and where so all important
questions and it does sound like the school's really taking
this seriously.

Speaker 2 (35:29):
Well, if anybody has some information in regards to this,
one of the students is a very likely candidate.

Speaker 3 (35:37):
Right absolutely, because.

Speaker 2 (35:39):
Even if they didn't know, if they don't know something directly,
maybe indirectly or they heard something.

Speaker 3 (35:46):
Right. So, while this is going on, there is a
life sports class in session at the old gym. Just
after ten am, the teacher had handed out a survey
for students to complete, and a female student kind of
up from the bleachers to that set of mats. There
were twenty one mats rolled up and standing upright next

(36:09):
to these bleachers. It was there while filling out this
survey that she noticed something that seemed to be a
bit out of the ordinary, Dylan. She saw what appeared
to be socks sticking up out of the top mat.
And when I say socks, like socks with feet in them.

Speaker 2 (36:29):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 3 (36:31):
So she sees feet, you know, a set of feet,
two feet one two. It's not a toxic avenger foot,
oh right, So she's like, what is going on? I mean,
I think most people would be like, what the hell? Right,
you don't normally just see feet sticking up out of
a mat, and much of their horror. You know, She's

(36:54):
by now got some friends called over. They're seeing these feet,
They see these two white socks sticking up from this mat.
They concluded someone who's rolled up in this mat. Right,
So these kids are like, what is happening? Right? So,
of course they naturally are gonna get upset and freak out.

(37:15):
They could tell that the person was faced down inside
the mat with their feet like sticking up out of it.
Some of these students start screaming immediately. Philip pipe Low
and athletic trainer and some of the students rush over
and they start trying to push these mats over. But
you have to remember again, these are huge mats. There's
twenty one of them.

Speaker 2 (37:35):
They're kind of packed in there.

Speaker 3 (37:37):
They're packed in there and there, and they're heavy, right,
They're really big mats. So when they finally start getting
the mats to fall over, they crash down, you know,
with a loud thud. And when they finally get to
this particular mat, they're able to you know, knock it over,
and that's when it unrolls halfway and reveals the body

(37:58):
of a male with dreadlocks.

Speaker 2 (38:00):
Damn. I mean, this would be crazy, right, You're just
having a you know, whatever day in gym class and
all of a sudden you're seeing something like this or
just knowing, you know, and knowing that, oh my god,
I don't think that person's okay.

Speaker 3 (38:19):
That would I mean, this event, I'm sure was very
traumatizing for these young people. I'm sure, well for anyone,
but particularly like these young students who are just trying
to do some PE class, right, yeah.

Speaker 2 (38:33):
Trying to figure out how you can get out a
PE class, shaded P class.

Speaker 3 (38:37):
It didn't take very long to recognize the person was deceased.
Vomit and blood were located inside the mat. The teacher
moved students from the old gym to the new gym
on campus. A lot of phone calls were made to
nine to one one from both students and staff. The
school was placed on lockdown. Now you gotta keep in
mind doing At this time, Jackie Kj's mother is in

(39:00):
the guidance office fretting over her son's disappearance. And that's
when she starts receiving text messages. And these messages say
there's a fire truck and an ambulance along with emergency
personnel in the parking lot of the school. Right no
one can come in the front entrance of the school.
It's been blocked by these emergency workers, these emergency vehicles.

Speaker 2 (39:26):
So basically, other people in town are seeing this activity
at the school and.

Speaker 3 (39:30):
Texting her and like, oh, the school's on lockdown.

Speaker 2 (39:32):
Telling her what's going on down there right now.

Speaker 3 (39:35):
Soon after, the guidance counselor receives a phone call, and
Jackie overhears a bit of the call. On the other end.
The caller says, they found a body in the gymnasium.
This poor mother, it's terrible at this time in twenty thirteen,
Lowndes was one of two high schools in Valdosta, Georgia.

(39:56):
Around three thousand students attended this school. He's only been
in session for two days at this point, Dylan. The
students had only recently returned from the long winter break,
so kJ had only been back to school like one
day when he went missing.

Speaker 2 (40:10):
Oh wow, right now.

Speaker 3 (40:12):
The Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine was called to the
high school. He was driving back to Valdosta along with
a deputy named Joe Crow. Patrol officers had arrived around
the time of EMTs and taped off the gym. Classes
resumed while the investigation proceeded. And at this point they're

(40:33):
not really sure what has happened. Sheriff Prime spoke with
the media confirming a body had been discovered in the
gymnasium and that the student's death was being treated as suspicious,
a possible homicide. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, along with
the Sheriff's office, spent all day and then the following
day carefully documenting the scenes details, collecting evidence, and interviewing

(40:55):
witnesses at the school. The crime scene investigator was James.
He arrived around ten forty eight am to the scene. Now,
at this time Kendrick had been identified and I'm not
really sure like if a teacher identified him or a student,
but by now they know this is Kendrick, this is

(41:16):
kJ The old gym was described in police reports as
having bleachers along the north and south walls. Around twenty
one mats were rolled up in the southwest corner of
the gym. Investigators inspected the door entrances and exits and windows.
They were unable to determine I'm sorry, they were able
to determine there had been no forced entry to the gym, okay,

(41:38):
So they were like, okay, the windows aren't open.

Speaker 2 (41:40):
There doesn't seem to be you know, no door pride open.

Speaker 3 (41:44):
No secret passageways. Everything looks normal, right, It doesn't look
like somebody's trying to break in. At the scene, one
black and white Adidas shoes size nine and a half
was found on the floor in front of a rolled
up matt. A yellow folder was also found on the
gym floor near this mat, as well as a science book.

(42:05):
The science book was kind of scattered though, it was
like kind of behind two rolled up mats near the
southwest wall, so it was a little further away than
this folder. Near the mats. A gray sized medium Hollister
sweatshirt was also recovered. Blood stains were found on the
south wall. A pair of black, gray and orange Nike

(42:26):
sneakers were found near the bleachers on the north wall.

Speaker 2 (42:29):
Wait on the south wall of the gym.

Speaker 3 (42:31):
Yeah, okay, we're gonna get to that, So just hold
that thought. A pair of black, gray and orange Nikes,
like I said, were found at the north wall, and
all of these items were placed into evidence. Bill Watson,
the county corner arrived and conducted an examination of the body. Now,
as soon as law enforcement discovers a body in Georgia,

(42:51):
this is an interesting fact about Georgia law, the corner
must be called out. Okay, Like the minute you find
a body, you're supposed to call the corner and wherever
they are, it's like drop everything and get here now
kind of thing.

Speaker 2 (43:05):
Well, that's interesting. I think that's a good procedure.

Speaker 3 (43:08):
Well, Dylan, what is a lot of people find strange
about this case or they kind of point to this
maybe as being you like a party foul by police
or something. Is the corner didn't show up at this
scene for six hours, like after six hours after they
found the body, the corner arrived. But the sheriff defended
this action, saying that he waited for the crime scene

(43:31):
to be cleared so that Watson wouldn't have to wait
around for hours, Like if he had called him out
right at like ten forty, he would have had to wait,
you know, six hours while they processed the crime scene
before he would have been able to go over and
like check the body.

Speaker 2 (43:48):
Okay, Now, I wonder if that's typically the corner would
be there waiting for the scene to be cleared, if
that you know what I mean, if.

Speaker 3 (43:57):
That just comes with well, I mean by the book,
that would be like how it worked, right, And so
there's been some argument back and forth about the sheriff
maybe skipping over this or ignoring this.

Speaker 2 (44:11):
Rule right law. And I wonder why it would take
that long to clear the scene. I mean, it's a
fairly secure location inside of a building. Seems like it
wouldn't take more than I don't know, thirty minutes an
hour to do all.

Speaker 3 (44:28):
The evidence collection though, okay, you're interviewing witnesses. I guess
I could see where that would take longer than just
an hour or two. The sheriff has stated that no
one touched the body, including law enforcement, until the corner arrived.
The corner will dispute this, saying later that when he
was finally called to the scene, the integrity had already

(44:51):
been compromised.

Speaker 2 (44:53):
Well see, yeah, see that's what I guess. That's what
I was very poorly trying to say, is the corner
part of scene integrity, you know, some kind of an
a witness or a witness or observer of scene integrity,
which is why you know they get called out immediately.

(45:15):
I guess that was part of my That's what I
was wondering.

Speaker 3 (45:19):
In many of the crime scene photos, we can see
that investigators are just wearing shoes at the scene without
those little coverings. Oh you know, they've got those little
blue that I always think they're blue or white, and
you kind of slip them on over your shoes.

Speaker 2 (45:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (45:34):
A lot of hospitals, a lot of doctors and nurses
wear those.

Speaker 2 (45:37):
A lot of maintenance people workers around homes use those
as well. They're just a little disposable shoe covers, right.

Speaker 3 (45:45):
Well, those shoe coverings help preserve scene integrity and at
this scene, folks aren't wearing those. Let's be so for real, though,
if you're a law enforcement officer, you should follow the
letter of the law to aity.

Speaker 2 (46:00):
What what you think when you say I thought or
you know, that doesn't matter. You should follow the rules
and you should follow procedure to the letter always, no
matter what.

Speaker 3 (46:13):
Yeah, And if you know, hey, I'm supposed to put
these shoe coverings on, you should do that without being
told to do it at a crime scene, right, I
mean just in my brain, right. And you should also
follow the law, like if it's written that you call
the corner right now, I don't care if that dude
has to wait ten hours. I'm gonna do. I'm gonna

(46:33):
do my job the way it is described right right,
I'm gonna be all job requirements here.

Speaker 2 (46:41):
Well, no, because it's because of seriousness of the nature
of the business of what they're doing here. When you
have a body, a scene and all that, it matters.
It matters a lot, and it can matter years later.
It can matter years later when something finally gets ends
up in a courtroom or something. You know, it's very

(47:01):
important what you do in the very beginning of these
types of investigations.

Speaker 3 (47:06):
Absolutely, and so I think a lot of folks point
to this event and maybe some other things that we'll discuss.
It's like maybe the Sheriff's department didn't exactly have all
their ducks in a row and they weren't going by
the book.

Speaker 2 (47:24):
Yeah, and you know what, there are people too, and
people have a bad day at work, you know, or
you mess up. See, that's the difference is when you
just do you know, I'm just I do a blue
collar job. So as long as I don't harm anybody
or myself, it really doesn't you know what I mean.
It's not that there's not many long term ramifications because

(47:47):
of what I do at work, whether I do it
good or bad, you know what I'm saying. But in
a situation like this, obviously that's a whole different ballgame.
And my hat's off to people who do this type
of work day in and day out. It must be
very hard emotionally to keep all this stuff in a
row and try to perform these tops of jobs in

(48:08):
a professional manner.

Speaker 3 (48:11):
The corner Watson finds Kendrick's body is lying on the
left side sticking out of the mat. The rest of
the body from the abdomen down is still inside the
back because you remember when they knocked it over, it
kind of unrolled a bit right right, There was a
pool of blood surrounding its head. Kendrick was wearing an
orange T shirt with a white undershirt, jeans, boxers, and

(48:34):
white socks. A pair of white, gray and orange nikes
were found inside the mat, but not on Kendrick's feet.
The photos taken show that the shoes at the end
where his feet are. I'm sorry, the photos show that
these shoes were at the end where his feet are
and nodded his head, which is gonna be confusing for

(48:56):
some people, and we'll get to that here in a minute. Well,
Kendrick's face was swollen and had blood at the eyes, nose,
and mouth. There was also dried blood on his arms, chest,
and face, and his eyes were swollen with busted blood vessels.
There were no signs of blunt force trauma to the body.
No wounds were found to suggest punctures or anything like that.

Speaker 2 (49:21):
Okay, wow, I mean, I'm just this bodies in fairly.
It's in pretty bad shape. Right, It's a bit odd.

Speaker 3 (49:33):
Right near Kendrick's head on the floor was a black
and white Adidas shoe sitting in this pool of blood.
It was a size nine and a half, matching the
other shoe that was found. A cell phone was in
the left pocket of Kendrick's genes. Now, this matt measured
seventy five inches in length. It's thirty five inches in

(49:54):
diameter when rolled up the place like where his feet
were positioned. It was about a fourteen and a half
opening at its whitest spot. The mat was fourteen point
seventy five inches in diameter at the opening where Kendrick's
head had been. Some bloody towels I say towels, but

(50:17):
like paper towels or tissue, you know, we'll recovered from
the girl's bathroom, and all of this stuff is you know, collected.
It's taken to the crime lab. Kendrick's body was transported
to the crime lab for autopsy, emplaced in a cooler.
At five point thirty PM. One of the EMTs had
written a report noting that there was bruising on the

(50:37):
right side jaw. On Sunday, January thirteenth, Kendrick's parents were
escorted to the cooler where they formerly identified their son's
remains formally identified sorry Now, obviously this is going to
be quite shocking. And I should also mention that he's
been identified, but his parents are pretty insistent they want
to see him, even though they've been worn like it's

(51:00):
not gonna be pretty right, and.

Speaker 2 (51:04):
They're within their rights. I think to you know, insist
on that. I think that's a personal choice that each
family member gets to make it a situation like this,
and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.

Speaker 3 (51:18):
Now, like I said, obviously this is going to be
quite shocking for his parents. Kenneth Johnson later said his
son was almost unrecognizable and did not look like himself.
On Monday, January fourteenth, Kendrick's body is sent to the
Georgia Bureau of Investigation or autopsy by the Evening News,
A local ABC affiliate ran a story saying the preliminary

(51:42):
autopsy showed no foul play and that Kendrick had no
visible injuries to his body that could have caused death.
Investigators didn't see any signs of struggle. They concluded he
had somehow gotten himself stuck inside this mat and was
unable to get out. The theory is ken had reached
down into this mat to retrieve this pair of shoes

(52:05):
and had somehow maybe fallen in and gotten stuck.

Speaker 2 (52:10):
Okay, from the top, he's above the mat, standing upright right, Yeah,
and maybe I guess it is. The theory goes the
shoes maybe fell down in their little further than they
usually did, something like that, and so he's having to
over it sten himself slip fall straight down into this mat.

(52:33):
And he's a pretty good sized kid, what'd you say,
five ten one sixty, so little long and lanky, and
he's just crammed down into this mat. And if that's
what happened, that's a terrible situation to find yourself in.
Freak accident, Yeah, because now you've slid and fell down

(52:56):
into this big, thick mat. No one's going to hear you,
likely hear you if you holler, because all the sounds
being projected down towards the floor, and you're surrounded with
all these other mats, and you're not gonna you can't
find any kind of a purchase to push yourself out right,

(53:16):
push yourself backwards. And I'm afraid the more that you
would struggle in a situation like this would only further
push you down into the mat. Right, you kind of
wiggle your way. It would just be a terrible, terrible
situation to find yourself in.

Speaker 3 (53:33):
Right, So let's get back to the story. Dylan quickly.
Kendrick's father, Kenneth, refutes the findings. He questions the police's
conclusion and stated that he thought someone had murdered his son.

Speaker 2 (53:45):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (53:46):
It took months for the official autopsy report to be released.
It was made public on May second of twenty thirteen.
Kendrick's cause of death was listed as positional exphyxia. The
body had been in a position that suffocated him. He
was unable to breathe, resulting in death. There were no
signs of significant injuries identified. Two very small abrasions were

(54:10):
located on his right wrist and left fourth finger. Both
of those were less than about an eighth of an inch.
Another abrasion was found on the same finger, measuring about
five sixteenths of an inch, so very tiny little abrasions.
Toxicology reports came back normal. In this very detailed report.

(54:31):
There was no mention of that bruising on the jaw
as observed by the EMT. The pathologists surmised that Kendrick's
cause of death was accidental. Over the four months of
investigation into Kendrick's death, hundreds of students were interviewed, along
with witnesses and people connected to Kendrick, using lab reports,
physical evidence, and surveillance video. This is what they concluded,

(54:56):
and I'm going to read this verbatim, okay, and I quote.
Kendrick was last seen entering the old gym at one
nine pm on January tenth. He entered into the gym
behind another student who went in a different direction. The
student was confirmed to have gone to class Right after this,
Kendrick is seen going over to the right in direction
of the mats in the corner. There is no one

(55:18):
else visible in the gym video. Around fifteen minutes later,
other students are seen entering the gym for class, and
some of them are playing basketball the afternoon and evening,
multiple basketball practices were held in the gym during this time.
No one reports seeing anything unusual. Over the breaks, the
mats had been moved around. They were placed upright and

(55:39):
packed into the corner. Investigators thought Kendrick had run into
the gym to get his shoes but couldn't find them
because again, these mats have been moved and re arranged.
Because typically some are stacked in summer on the ground.

Speaker 2 (55:53):
Yeah, and I'm gonna imagine if you're stashing something like shoes,
a book or whatever, you're probably going to say, stick
it in the end of one that is laying flat
on the ground. Yeah, over on the edge. You know,
sounds like they were tied to the bleachers.

Speaker 3 (56:10):
Right, So Kendrick had climbed to the top of the
bleachers looking into the mat ends for these missing shoes.
Kendrick saw one of the missing sneakers rolled up in
the mat. Students were known to hang around where these
mats were located. Candy wrappers, soda bottles, that kind of litter.
Trash was kind of scattered among them. You know, after

(56:33):
basketball game, somebody just throws their you know, soda bottle
down the mat rather than just taking it to the
trash can.

Speaker 2 (56:40):
Right. I don't know why I hate litterers, No, I
really truly do. I just don't get it. You're handling
that trash, you used, whatever product was in the trash,
Why is it that hard to find somewhere to put
it like a trash can.

Speaker 3 (56:58):
He likely used one arm to reach down into the
mat while holding on with the other. He either fell
into the hole or possibly thought he could squeeze kind
of in to get or reach the shoe and then
could not get himself out. He struggled, which caused Kendrick
to sink deeper into this mat. With a cell phone
in his pocket. He was unable to reach for it,

(57:20):
like he wouldn't be able to get to it, probably
just due to the tightness of being in that mat. Right.

Speaker 2 (57:26):
Well, yeah, you said it typically had a around a
fourteen to sixteen inch diameter. That's not very that's not
very big. See, I could never let's just say, I
could never fall into this mat. No, they would find
me stuck.

Speaker 3 (57:40):
I'm not even sure they could fit your luxurious thighs
into that mat.

Speaker 2 (57:43):
Baby, they would. They would be like his head was
in the mat and we think he, I.

Speaker 3 (57:48):
Mean, your head could get stuck in there.

Speaker 2 (57:50):
Yeah he did. Yeah, he couldn't get out.

Speaker 3 (57:52):
Her head is probably fourteen inches and dime.

Speaker 2 (57:55):
Yeah, I know. So basically the top of my head
is how big the hole was.

Speaker 3 (57:59):
It's a planet. Now. Actually, we got to talk about
the cell phone, Dyllin. It did not belong to Kendrick.
It belonged to his cousin. It was his cousin's cell phone.
There had not been any calls placed on this phone
for several weeks, like before January tenth. It was suggested
that Kendrick might have used this phone as like a
music player, an MP three player. There are also texting

(58:23):
apps which don't require phone service. All you gotta do
is like hook up to Wi Fi and some messages.

Speaker 2 (58:29):
So are we to understand this phone did not have service? Okay?

Speaker 3 (58:33):
Yeah, So this is what's been suggested, is like maybe
he had it for music, or maybe he was using
some of those apps where you can just connect to
Wi Fi and right message each.

Speaker 2 (58:42):
Other, which is not uncommon for young people. They got
they know of all these different oh yeah apps and
ways around being on service.

Speaker 3 (58:49):
So being grounded, yeah.

Speaker 2 (58:50):
Or it could be his basically his MP three player
have some music stored in there, downloaded there.

Speaker 3 (58:58):
Due to the abdominal organ pressing into Kendrick's diaphragm, they
believed he died fairly fast. The tightness of the mat
constricted his chest. The blood, they said was from post
mortem purge. After all, the blood rushed to his head.
He was suspended upside down inside a mat, and these
mats weigh about seven hundred pounds each. The mat he

(59:21):
was stuck in was near the back, so there was
no way that he would have been able to wiggle
himself loose from the others because they're all pecked in
there like sardines, and the heads super tight. Yeah, his
shoulders were a lot wider than the opening, so it
essentially would have blocked air from entering into the mat. God, Now,

(59:43):
it sounds like the location of the mat, the sizes
of these mats, and how they were crammed together would
have muffled any noise. As you had mentioned, Dylan, it
is believed that Kendrick placed the folder and science book
down on top of the mats and that they fell
like when a teacher moved them, and that's how maybe
the book ended up a little further away from the.

Speaker 2 (01:00:02):
Folder when they got the tried to flip them. Yeah, right,
when they discovered the feet and they were trying to
get to the person.

Speaker 3 (01:00:10):
Right, And remember I mentioned there were bloody paper towels
in the bathroom. They actually belonged to a color guard
girl who had injured her hand during practice, and she
had cleaned up in the bathroom using tissue or paper towels.
When it was tested, it was female DNA found and
none of the DNA was male. So that explains the
blood the bloody paper towel.

Speaker 2 (01:00:31):
No, but I mean, I guess that can show that
they were There may be questions about, you know, seeing
integrity or other things they did, but that seemed to
be a pretty good sweep of the general area for
them to catch that the bloody tissues in. I'm going
to assume the closest bathrooms, even the female bathroom, they

(01:00:51):
checked it as well. So I think that points to
good police work, I guess, is what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (01:00:58):
Remember I told you there was some dry blood on
the wall, like a few feet away from where he
was found. Well, that blood was tested. It did not
belong to Kendrick, but we also don't know who was
the contributor. The blood on the wall was very dark.
It didn't even really look like blood, but rather like
some kind of old stain or something. So it's been

(01:01:19):
kind of concluded that that was probably a very very.

Speaker 2 (01:01:23):
Old blood stain, right and it.

Speaker 3 (01:01:26):
Is had probably been on that gym wall for years.
I mean, I know they have janitors and stuff, but
let's be honest. The high schools or just schools in general.
You're not going to be eating off the floor.

Speaker 2 (01:01:41):
No, And it's a gymnasium, so it's not It's not beyond.

Speaker 3 (01:01:46):
Bloody nose. Somebody got hut in the face of the ball,
got a bloody nose. I mean, you know, cut their
lip and you know you're playing basketball. If you slam
up against the wall, you know, you could have had
blood on.

Speaker 2 (01:01:56):
Your hand and yeah, or elbowed in a face.

Speaker 3 (01:01:58):
I mean should that blood could been on that wall
since the damn seventies, or people.

Speaker 2 (01:02:02):
Could have been meeting there to fight and be like
your dead meet me by the Jim Matts at three
eight to three pm. Okay, you dead meet Heather.

Speaker 3 (01:02:12):
Nobody uses that phrase anymore. I really wish they would
bring it back.

Speaker 2 (01:02:16):
I'm gonna start telling people their asses grass.

Speaker 3 (01:02:18):
Yeah, and I'm the lawnmower my forgot. The sheriff concluded
after four months of investigation that Kendrick had died from
a freak accident.

Speaker 2 (01:02:30):
So it's official conclusion, yes, okay.

Speaker 3 (01:02:34):
Kendrick's parents were not satisfied with the results of the investigation.
From the beginning. They were convinced that Kendrick was murdered,
and let's be honest, there's no amount of evidence that
will change their minds. It's a hard reality to accept.
It's like so many families who don't believe that their
loved one's death was suicide, right, you know, the families

(01:02:57):
often raise suspicions or point fingers at homicide is the possibility.
And I understand, especially given the nature of this accident.
I mean, if it was a freak accident, it would
be really hard to wrap your head around, like how
that even happens.

Speaker 2 (01:03:12):
Well, no, it's like a it's like a gold a
Rube Goldberg or whatever. Yeah, it's like these all these
multiple things had to happen for him to end up
in this position, for him to have the accident. Right,
it's so that the mats got moved around, the shoes
aren't where they usually are, bla this, bla, that all

(01:03:35):
these the just very random circumstance that had to all
align perfectly to create the situation where he may slip
into the mat. And I can understand, honestly finding it
hard to believe, right, And that's the nature of I
would say, any freak accident, as they like to call it, Well.

Speaker 3 (01:03:56):
It is hard to believe. But I'm also going to say, like, look,
I am one of the clumsiest, goofiest people around, and
I'm constantly hurting myself or getting into some situation that
I'm like, this would never happen to any other human
on the planet, Like why did this happen to me?
Like just almost things that are so ridiculous. I can't
even explain it to you. And when I do, you

(01:04:19):
look at me like you're gonna get me, you know,
like a special teacher or something.

Speaker 2 (01:04:25):
This kind of stuff happens to me. I was at
work and this thing kind of flew around through the
air as things are wont to do at work, and
hit my phone and made the stylist break, made the
stylist come out of the phone and break inside.

Speaker 3 (01:04:41):
But you were sitting inside a vehicle.

Speaker 2 (01:04:43):
Well, I was in a vehicle.

Speaker 3 (01:04:44):
When this happened, which just makes it even stranger.

Speaker 2 (01:04:47):
I mean it was I was like, what the fuck
just happened? And my phone was in a spot where
I never ever laid it down, and you know, all
this it's and I'm just what in the world, And
I'm you know, I can't believe my phone wasn't destroyed.

Speaker 3 (01:05:00):
I'm glad it didn't like hit you in the damn eyre.

Speaker 2 (01:05:02):
Well, me too, And I don't still don't know how
it made the stylist pop out of the phone and
break in half. I mean, I just don't understand the
forces at play here, right.

Speaker 3 (01:05:12):
No, I mean I get it. Like I said, I'm
very clumsy and just like the goofy ist shit happens
to me. Yeah, So I'm gonna be realistic here and say, well,
that's not so far fetched, yeah, because I feel like
some goofy ash shit like that could happen to me. Right.
Some of the details are confusing, so let's be I mean,

(01:05:33):
we'll be fair about this for the lay person this
police report, and if you're looking through the investigation and
the notes, it can be confusing because we have multiple
pairs of shoes. We have Adidas shoes, we have Nike shoes.
We have different students stashing their shoes and possibly other
items in these mats, So it is probably hard to

(01:05:56):
explain why these different shoes were kind of just found
all over the place, And it is possible that another student,
after using a pair of shoes, tossed them up and
that they just happened to land in the mat where
Kendrick was, and this could explain why this pair of
nikes were found at his feet. Oh gay, which makes sense.

(01:06:17):
I mean that makes sense to me, right, these kids
are like just constantly just toss and shut up there.

Speaker 2 (01:06:23):
Well, it's possible, certainly possible.

Speaker 3 (01:06:26):
Of course, seeing his son in the cooler room had
an impact on Kenneth. I mean, I know, like just
from my experience working in the Morgue, like we did
not let families come to the Morgue just see to
like view a body, you had to go through a
funeral home to do that, right, So, like after the
funeral home had picked the body up, the funeral home

(01:06:48):
typically does some things to kind of prepare for a
family to view the body. And you know, in a
lot of cases, it's not always recommended that families view
a body, and if it's something you know, pretty horrific.
But you know, some families want to view bodies. And
I think a lot of families don't understand what dead

(01:07:09):
bodies look like because they don't they won't always look
like you're a loved person or your loved one, you know.

Speaker 2 (01:07:16):
Well, no, in a case like this, given the swelling
and things like that, I'm sure it makes you wonder,
is that the last snapshot you want to be your
loved one?

Speaker 3 (01:07:27):
Right?

Speaker 2 (01:07:28):
But I think the finality of it pushes some people
to want to, no matter what, to have that last
look with their loved one.

Speaker 3 (01:07:37):
Well, when you love your child and you want to
you know, I mean as a parent, it's not hard
to understand.

Speaker 2 (01:07:43):
I understand, but I also understand the problems that could
the issues that could cause you right definitely.

Speaker 3 (01:07:52):
And like I said, I think a lot of people
don't realize what the human body can do or does.

Speaker 2 (01:08:00):
Mom almost always does in some form or another. As
far as releasing all fluids.

Speaker 3 (01:08:08):
Yeah, your body's gonna purge all the fluids.

Speaker 2 (01:08:10):
The effect gravity has on a dead body and the
blood settling and.

Speaker 3 (01:08:16):
The decomp and not waiting you know, a few hours,
if there's you know, a day, I mean, it can
make a difference.

Speaker 2 (01:08:24):
There's any type of pressure associated against the body in
any form can cause a very strange things to happen
to the remains. I mean, it's just a lot, a
lot at play.

Speaker 3 (01:08:38):
Kendrick was swollen, he was bloated and had been upside
down in a mat for nearly twenty four hours. So
his head was misshapen. But that doesn't indicate violence. I
mean again, our bodies do very strange and unusual things
during and after death. Now his parents are eventually going
to post a picture of him online a death photo.

Speaker 2 (01:09:02):
Oh wow, and if you want to look.

Speaker 3 (01:09:04):
It up, I'm just warning it's gruesome. But I know
some people are into that.

Speaker 2 (01:09:11):
So you looked at it.

Speaker 3 (01:09:15):
No, I didn't look at it.

Speaker 2 (01:09:16):
Oh you didn't look at it.

Speaker 3 (01:09:17):
No, I didn't look at it for this case, Okay,
But I mean, I know some folks are interested in that.
I mean, I'm interested just from you know, I guess,
like a science perspective or whatever.

Speaker 4 (01:09:25):
Right.

Speaker 3 (01:09:26):
The day after Kendrick's body was discovered, his parents contacted
Reverend Rose of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a civil
rights organization. Rose told the family he would do anything
to help and launched an investigation into the death case.
The NAACP was also looking into the case. The Johnson's
had hired an attorney to see if there was any

(01:09:49):
legal recourse and find out like what their options were,
you know, as far as like maybe getting a separate
you know, autopsy or an independent investigation that kind of.

Speaker 2 (01:10:01):
Thing, and I guess for someone to see if there's
any liability that can be assigned to an institution or
an individual.

Speaker 3 (01:10:11):
Statements were made claiming that Kendrick's death was racially motivated,
that if he had been a white student, the outcome
would have been different. The Johnson's alleged that there was
a cover up concealing the truth about their son's death.
Media outlets took up the torch, spreading this narrative, you know,
like CNN. Pretty soon, activists and supporters began marching and

(01:10:31):
hosting rallies to demand justice. Al Sharpton himself showed up.

Speaker 2 (01:10:39):
Oh wow, okay, so it's a big deal. Now we're
bringing out the big guns. We got to Al Sharpton
and his little skinny body with his big head. He
looks like a biblehead.

Speaker 3 (01:10:51):
Al Sharpton's been showing up at a lot of places
over the years.

Speaker 2 (01:10:56):
Yes, he's on to show up. It's about all he
does as far as I can.

Speaker 3 (01:11:01):
Only shows up and like makes statements, He.

Speaker 2 (01:11:04):
Says things, and then you know, goes and shows up
somewhere else. I mean, that's what he does.

Speaker 3 (01:11:09):
Yeah, seven members of Kendrick's family were arrested in twenty
thirteen for obstruction. The family blocked the entrance to the
county's judicial complex so people couldn't get in or out.

Speaker 2 (01:11:21):
Okay, so these are acts of civil disobedience, right? Is
that right?

Speaker 3 (01:11:26):
His parents had taken pictures of him post mortem, as
I mentioned, and many of his relatives wore these shirts
that had that image printed on them at rallies.

Speaker 2 (01:11:40):
Look, I can't understand what these parents are feeling. The pain,
the hurt, the wanting to know or at least or
be convinced that they know the entire truth thurrounding their
son's death. It must be a terrible position to be in.
But honestly, at this point in just your story, I

(01:12:00):
heard this when it happened, but I did not know
the details. So I'm really enjoying your story. I'm still
trying to figure out. Okay, they want the truth, right,
is the basis of their position. Yes, But I'm still
don't understand at this point where the racial element is

(01:12:24):
coming into the play of their pursuit of the truth.
You know what I'm saying. It's one thing to say
they're covering up. We don't know the full truth. We
want the truth. But then I'm still kind of out
a loss how this is kind of blossomed into like
a racial issue. You understand, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (01:12:44):
Well, we can explore more of that in part two. Okay,
you know, the parents, their feelings, supporters feelings. Well, seeing
such a graphic picture printed on these shirts ignites a
firestorm of people who demand that the case be reopen.

Speaker 2 (01:13:00):
And okay, and and that doesn't surprise me. It sounds
like that would be a shocking image. Absolutely, this poor boy,
I mean this poor young man.

Speaker 3 (01:13:12):
Yes, okay, so that's where we are going to en part.

Speaker 2 (01:13:16):
One, Dylan Damn.

Speaker 3 (01:13:18):
And we we'll get into part two here in a
couple of days, and maybe I'll be able to answer
some of your questions for I.

Speaker 2 (01:13:24):
Need to know. See, I think you're part of the
cover up now, Heather, making us wait two or three
days to get you know, to find out the truth
of what really happened in this story.

Speaker 3 (01:13:35):
Okay, now you're just being silly.

Speaker 2 (01:13:37):
All right, No, al, Al, don't come in, not yet.

Speaker 3 (01:13:41):
It is a very confusing case, it is, and just
kind of knowing, like what you know, who to believe
what to believe, and did investigators thoroughly like do their job.
I mean, I understand why the family maybe is having

(01:14:02):
these feelings.

Speaker 2 (01:14:04):
Yeah, and I think we can also mention that during
if memory serves me correctly, when this happened to the
support whatever it is that happened to this poor young man,
a lot of other notable, high profile cases had happened
around the country. Yeah, I think that's safe to say. Maybe,

(01:14:25):
of course, that might always be the case. Something's always
going on in our nation. But I don't know, you know,
maybe just people were kind of already primed for this
type of a feeling or idea in their head. I
don't know.

Speaker 3 (01:14:40):
Okay, Well, like I said, we will bring you part
two here very soon, and hopefully you know, I covered
the first part of this case well enough. I hope
folks appreciated it. Maybe you learned a few things that
you hadn't heard on another podcast.

Speaker 2 (01:14:55):
I definitely learned a lot, and I appreciate your first
half and I cannot wait for the second.

Speaker 3 (01:15:00):
All right, Well, I was gonna say my main resources
for today have been newspaper articles, because there I'm surprised
no one has written a book about this case. You know,
like I tried to find a book, but there was
not a book at all. Yeah, so most of what
I'm drawing, uh, my resources are just from like the

(01:15:22):
newspaper articles at the time. Okay, all right, Dylan, So
I'll see you here soon.

Speaker 4 (01:15:29):
My