The parents of Kendrick Johnson are still fighting for truth and justice in 2026, over a decade after his death. Official narratives surrounding the death of the 17 year old whose body was found rolled up in a gym mat inside a Valdosta, Georgia, high school in 2013.
Are now contradicted by new evidence submitted by the Johnson family in two motions filed in federal court on January 17. The new evidence disputes official reports from law enforcement investigators and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Medical Examiner.
According to Kendrick’s parents, Kenneth and Jackie Johnson, new evidence from a 2013 Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office Narrative Report may change the case from an accidental death to a homicide.
The additional evidence consists of multiple photographs and a school resource officer’s report that appears to contradict the official investigation and forensic reports.
“Official reports by Officer Gerardo Morales, GBI Medical Examiner Dr. Maryanne Kraft, and investigators Stryde Jones, Jack Winningham, and James Thornton all allege there were no significant injuries, no signs of blunt force trauma.
No signs of foul play, and that Kendrick’s death was just some ‘scientifically impossible’ freak accident that was not supported by the evidence they collected and pictures of the crime scene that were taken,” Kenneth Johnson said in a press release e-mailed to The Final Call.
“How can two officers, responding to the same incident at the same time, file exact opposite reports concerning the appearance and condition of my son’s body?” Kenneth Johnson asked about his son’s unusual and tragic death.
The press statement said further that, “The Johnsons have two civil lawsuits filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, both have been stalled from moving forward in accordance with constitutional mandates of due process and the federal rules of civil procedure for unprecedented times, far outside the boundaries of judicial discretion.
“On January 17, 2026, the Johnsons submitted a motion in court to lift the stay of discovery, citing Officer Adams’ incident report and other evidences,” the Johnson’s statement read.
“The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and other defendants would be required to officially answer the lawsuit charges and causes of action against them when the stay of discovery is lifted.
“We know how Kendrick got in that mat and it wasn’t because he accidentally fell in it reaching for a shoe,” his mother, Jackie Johnson, insisted in the family’s January 21 press statement.
Investigators said in their official report that Kendrick fell into a vertically standing rolled-up gym mat while trying to retrieve one of his shoes. (See The Final Call Vol. 43 No.2).
In their new court filing, the Johnsons provided forensic-based diagrams illustrating Kendrick being shoved into a mat by multiple individuals, where his torso becomes stuck at the mat opening, with his body being pushed inside.
It further revealed postmortem injuries to his torso and right shoulder areas. The updated diagrams counter the one provided in Sheriff Paulk’s 2022 Kendrick Johnson Death Investigation Synopsis.
Mr. Jonathan Burrs is the civil rights advocate and spokesperson for the Johnsons regarding their ongoing cases with the court system and its dealing with their son’s death. Mr. Burrs said that the family’s 13-year fight for justice has been long, taxing and that Mr. and Mrs. Johnson’s tenacity is a testimony to their strength.
“The general case is that the Johnson’s son, Kendrick was found deceased inside a gymnasium at his school, rolled up in some mats in a corner,” Mr. Burrs said of the incident during a telephone interview with The Final Call.
“There’s evidence that surveillance cameras are missing and that’s confirmed by a consultant that CNN had hired from Quantico and the surveillance tapes that were sent to them. (The consultant) pointed out that there were one to two hours of footage that was just gone. So, we know that there’s been tampering with this incident,” Mr. Burrs said.
“The state has maintained that this was just some scientifically impossible freak accident that Kendrick fell inside this 14-inch gym mat opening and had no significant injuries, no signs of blunt force trauma, and that there were no signs of foul play. That’s the official claim of the state,” Mr. Burrs explained.
“Well, the new developments include injuries, postmortem injuries we found on his body after going through some 600-plus photographs that we got from the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office from a Georgia Open Records Act request. (The Johnsons) have been trying to get these photos for the past several years, and we did finally get them,” he said.
Describing how the tearing of Kendrick’s skin and bruising on his shoulder were consistent with being pushed in feet first as opposed to falling in headfirst. Mr. Burrs alleged that newly revealed forensic evidence is consistent with at least three people pushing Kendrick into the rolled-up gym mat.
“The bombshell new evidence is this Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office (school resource) officer incident report or narrative report describes what he saw as a first responder,” Mr. Burrs said. ‘
“He said in his report that Kendrick was severely disfigured and swollen and that the only identifying features that he observed were his long dreadlocks. Discovery has been held up over 800 days now,” he said, drawing into question the credibility of the medical examiner, the GBI and other local investigators.
Mr. Johnson told The Final Call that he believes his son was murdered and that a cover-up exists from the school district up to local and state investigators and that both he and his wife will not disrespect their son’s memory by giving up their fight for justice.
Nation of Islam Student Minister Darryl Muhammad of Mosque No. 93 in Macon, Georgia, told The Final Call that the truth hidden by the unjust eventually comes to light and that justice does not sleep forever, as taught by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, National Representative of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
“What we’re dealing with is something that has been a plague in Southern culture ever since the Black man has been in the South,” Student Minister Darryl Muhammad said.
“You have these cases where Black men and Black women in particular have gotten murdered (and) the good old boy system in the South protected those who worked in the sheriff’s office, those who worked in the attorney’s offices, and this system still exists in 2026,” he said.
“You got to understand who you’re fighting against,” Mr. Johnson said of their 13-year struggle for the truth to come out. “You’re fighting against a crooked system, the only thing we as the Johnsons want to do is push out the truth.
This is evidence from their crime scene; this is not something that the Johnsons made up,” he said. “They tried to bury a lot of it, then they gave us evidence of their crime scene,” he said.
Mr. Johnson said for truth and justice to prevail in the United States, people, regardless of their race, creed or color, must overcome fear and never give up.
“Stand up for something,” Mr. Johnson insisted. “No matter how bad you think this might be, don’t let no one tell you your eyes do not see what you see and never be afraid of any man.
Walk with your head up high, with your chest stuck out and do the right thing and stop being afraid,” he insisted. “I want to say specifically to Black men, stand up and be a man for once in your life and stop being afraid,” Johnson continued. “Stop killing your brothers and being afraid of others.”