Kendrick Johnson was only 17 years-old when his dead body was found upside-down rolled up inside a school gym mat at the gymnasium of Lowndes High School, the school that Johnson had attended before his tragic passing.  Before that incident had occurred, he was a three-sport athlete and had dreams of becoming a professional footballer one day. Johnson’s family had described him as a sweet and quiet boy. 

Those dreams had became shattered when Kendrick Johnson’s body had been discovered upside down in a rolled up gym mat by students who were entering the gymnasium. Investigators within the scene had closed the case ruling it out as an accident due to positional asphyxia as they assumed that Johnson being upside down for a long period of time and the lack of breathing space inside the mat caused him to become completely deprived of oxygen and unresponsive. 

While this statement is true, they had left one important piece of information out.. There had appeared to be blood at the scene which did not belong to the victim! Johnson’s parents suspected that there was more to this incident than just being an ‘accident’ which is why they demanded an investigation take place. However, the request had been denied and after that, there had been no further investigations and therefore a decision was made that the case be closed. 

This is why I strongly urge the United States Supreme Court to reopen the case of Kendrick Johnson’s death and investigate further and press charges against the perpetrators: Taylor Eakin and Brian Bell. 

#BlackLivesMatter