Death of Georgia teen found in rolled-up gym mat to be reexamined

A sheriff’s department in Georgia has reopened an investigation into the 2013 death of a Black teenager whose body was found inside a rolled-up gym mat.

CNN reported that the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department said this week that it would reopen an investigation into Kendrick Johnson’s death, almost five years after the Justice Department said that there was “insufficient” evidence to determine that Johnson’s civil rights had been violated.

The 17-year-old’s death was initially ruled an accident.

Sheriff Ashley Paulk added that the investigation his office pursues will be based in part on evidence collected by federal investigators during their own years-long probe. Paulk added that “legitimate” questions surrounded Johnson’s death, which a family-hired pathologist said was a result of “unexplained, apparent non-accidental, blunt-force trauma,” according to CNN.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said after its investigation that Johnson had died after slipping in to the folded-up mat while trying to retrieve a shoe.

“If there’s questions — and they’re legitimate — I need to know the answers myself. The only way I’m going to know is to look at the evidence myself,” Paulk told CNN.

“We’re not asking for any favors. We’re not asking for anybody to lie for us. We just want the truth to come out,” added Johnson’s father, Kenneth Johnson.

Paulk, who returned from retirement to lead the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department, said that at the time of the boy’s death he was unsure himself whether it was really an accident.

“My plan is to see if there are any discrepancies between the [state and federal] reports,” he told CNN.