Father of Kendrick Johnson speaks out about family’s amended $12 million lawsuit against Georgia Department of Public Health
In court documents filed earlier this month, the parents of Kendrick Johnson, a Lowndes High School student who was found dead inside a rolled-up gym mat at school in 2013, didn’t die the way it’s listed on his official state death certificate, and they want it changed.
VALDOSTA, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT)- More than twelve years after the loss of their son, a South Georgia family is continuing its push for justice. In court documents filed earlier this month, the parents of Kendrick Johnson, a Lowndes High School student who was found dead inside a rolled-up gym mat at school in 2013, didn’t die the way it’s listed on his official state death certificate, and they want it changed.
“Kendrick was a really, really great son,” said Kenneth Johnson, Kendrick’s father. “And, you know, everyone in our family really misses him.”
Johnson says he misses everything about his son, but most of all, his laugh. Kenneth and Kendrick’s mom, Jacquelyn Johnson, are suing the Georgia Department of Public Health for the department’s refusal to change the teen’s cause of death from accidental positional asphyxia to non-accidental blunt force trauma, which they say independent autopsy results and other evidence supports.
“We have filed the right paperwork,” Johnson said. “We have filed several different times to get his death certificate corrected.”
The $12 million lawsuit also states that the independent autopsy shows injury and trauma to the teen’s internal organs. The lawsuit includes a photo of Johnson’s organs stored inside a biohazard bag, but now, that bag is nowhere to be found.
“They want to just dismiss evidence of what happened to Kendrick, and we will not allow them to do that.”
Johnson’s death sparked conversations about race across the state. In a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the Lowndes County Board of Education, his family claimed that the teen had been repeatedly attacked and harassed by a white student prior to his death. The lawsuit alleged that another student “had a history of provoking and attacking” Johnson at school. More than a decade after the tragedy, his father says the family’s desire for answers and accountability hasn’t wavered.
“If Kendrick was white, his family wouldn’t be going through this right now,” Johnson said. “But since it’s a Black child, these people don’t care. But we care. And we will push for the truth. And we will push for everything to be right.”
