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joeybee12

(56,177 posts)
Thu Oct 10, 2013, 02:34 PM Oct 2013

WTF??? Georgia teen was stuffed with newspaper after death, family lawyer says

The mysterious death of a Georgia teen has taken a bizarre twist with the revelation that an autopsy of his exhumed remains found his internal organs missing and his body stuffed with newspaper.

The family of Kendrick Johnson, 17, of Valdosta, Ga., was "outraged" and "devastated" by the discovery and believes his death was a murder that is being covered up, a lawyer representing them said Thursday.

Johnson, a three-sport athlete, was found dead on Jan. 11 in a rolled-up wrestling mat in his high school gym. State medical examiners concluded that he accidentally suffocated while trying to retrieve a sneaker.

But his parents, Kenneth and Jacquelyn Johnson, were doubtful about that conclusion. In June, they won a court order to have Kendrick's body exhumed for a second autopsy.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/10/20898158-georgia-teen-was-stuffed-with-newspaper-after-death-family-lawyer-says?lite

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WTF??? Georgia teen was stuffed with newspaper after death, family lawyer says (Original Post) joeybee12 Oct 2013 OP
"accidentally suffocated while trying to retrieve a sneaker" Duer 157099 Oct 2013 #1
and people accepted that? Wow! rurallib Oct 2013 #2
These sheeple BillyRibs Oct 2013 #28
White People Accepted it..... BronxBoy Oct 2013 #34
And rolled up into a wrestling mat no less. He rolled himself up while getting a sneaker? stevenleser Oct 2013 #6
You're getting it wrong, here's what supposedly happened at the time... 7962 Oct 2013 #25
i guess i can see how it could have happened now loli phabay Oct 2013 #33
WTF is right. Whoever came up with that story? truebluegreen Oct 2013 #12
Sure. Happens all the time. subterranean Oct 2013 #26
Obviously, the medical examiner was part of a conspiracy. Baitball Blogger Oct 2013 #29
WTF? Indeed...this is horrific.... MADem Oct 2013 #3
I thought from the start it was a bullying/hazing stunt gone very wrong Blue_Tires Oct 2013 #4
Deep South.... BronxBoy Oct 2013 #35
Some rich guy needing a organ transplant? fitman Oct 2013 #5
Yep. Or the black market for profit? Very strange case. Dash87 Oct 2013 #10
I'm not laughing. That was my first thought too. Auntie Bush Oct 2013 #13
Maybe I am watching Investigative Discovery (ID) channel too much lol fitman Oct 2013 #15
That HAS to be what happened. It's the only logical conclusion. nt Dreamer Tatum Oct 2013 #19
And accidentally hit the switch on a newspaper stuffing machine? Pretzel_Warrior Oct 2013 #7
Sounds like the newspaper stuffing happened during or after the first autopsy XemaSab Oct 2013 #8
This message was self-deleted by its author Cronus Protagonist Oct 2013 #9
"...a second autopsy...." mike_c Oct 2013 #11
This is common and not a big deal. former9thward Oct 2013 #14
Keep reading...the second autopsy shows he died from blunt trauma joeybee12 Oct 2013 #16
I realize that. former9thward Oct 2013 #18
I just cut and paste...nt joeybee12 Oct 2013 #21
Well, to be fair there hasn't been anywhere near enough outrage generated over this... Blue_Tires Oct 2013 #17
But the body parts should have been placed back into the body for burial. Sheepshank Oct 2013 #20
No, that is not the practice. former9thward Oct 2013 #23
I've heard on that too... On a TV show. CSI, NCIS, etc. are not real life. Thor_MN Oct 2013 #27
They wanted him to have something to read in the hereafter? jberryhill Oct 2013 #22
Does the funeral home guy have mommy issues? Spitfire of ATJ Oct 2013 #24
Such a sad story! abelenkpe Oct 2013 #30
ugh, flashbacks to Marion Parker MisterP Oct 2013 #31
More weirdness in Valdosta ... eppur_se_muova Oct 2013 #32
 

BillyRibs

(787 posts)
28. These sheeple
Thu Oct 10, 2013, 04:40 PM
Oct 2013

are so steeped in the religion of the state, that they will believe any thing issued as dogma, and attack any one questioning it as if they were heretics.

 

stevenleser

(32,886 posts)
6. And rolled up into a wrestling mat no less. He rolled himself up while getting a sneaker?
Thu Oct 10, 2013, 02:41 PM
Oct 2013

Unbelievable.

 

7962

(11,841 posts)
25. You're getting it wrong, here's what supposedly happened at the time...
Thu Oct 10, 2013, 04:15 PM
Oct 2013

(this has nothing to do with whether or not there was foul play, just what supposedly happened that killed him)
The mats are rolled up in the gym. Kids sometimes place their shoes on top of them. His shoes fell into one of the rolled up mats. He fell into the rolled up mat trying to get the shoes and as he exhaled he slid in further, which in turn made it harder and harder to breath, and eventually suffocated him.
There is supposedly security footage of him going into the gym, but also showing OTHERS going into the gym as well. But I've never seen if they went in before or after him or when they left. Theres also the question of him being bruised. Dont know if the situation described above would cause that or not.
But this latest news is off the charts. Newspaper??? SOmething sure isnt right about that.

 

loli phabay

(5,580 posts)
33. i guess i can see how it could have happened now
Thu Oct 10, 2013, 07:15 PM
Oct 2013

I remember jumping down the rolled up mats when younger, i can see someone leaning in and then slipping head first down it.

MADem

(135,425 posts)
3. WTF? Indeed...this is horrific....
Thu Oct 10, 2013, 02:40 PM
Oct 2013
Kendrick's body had been in three places after he died: possession of the local sheriff when the crime occurred; the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which conducted the first autopsy in January; and the Harrington Funeral Home in Valdosta, which handled the embalming and burial, according to Crump.
Harrington Funeral Home and the Valdosta sheriff did not return a request for comment from NBC News.
Sherry Lang, director of public affairs at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said, "We stand behind our medical examiner's office and their autopsy report on this case. We returned the organs with the body to the funeral home. It's our policy and it's our practice on every single autopsy that we do."

On Thursday, Kendrick's parents announced they planned to seek legal action against government officials who may have had involvement in covering up their son's murder.
"To find his organs are missing is just insult on top of injury," Crump said. "They're outraged. They've been outraged for the last nine months."

...
"A lot of people in the community believe they know who did this [the murder]," he said. "The question is why was it covered up. Right now we think that the truth is right under our noses and it's going to come out. This murder mystery will be solved."

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/10/20898158-georgia-teen-was-stuffed-with-newspaper-after-death-family-lawyer-says?lite



If the papers are dated after the transfer of the remains from one place to the next, that will be a clue....

Blue_Tires

(55,445 posts)
4. I thought from the start it was a bullying/hazing stunt gone very wrong
Thu Oct 10, 2013, 02:40 PM
Oct 2013

I have no idea how a bunch of people aren't fired over the theft of this kid's organs...

Too bad the Georgia governor is such a racist piece of shit and could care less about what's happening out in pudunk...

 

fitman

(482 posts)
5. Some rich guy needing a organ transplant?
Thu Oct 10, 2013, 02:41 PM
Oct 2013

Don't laugh stranger things have happened. Young, healthy, drug free athletic guy...family friend of said rich guy or an aquintance..

Auntie Bush

(17,528 posts)
13. I'm not laughing. That was my first thought too.
Thu Oct 10, 2013, 02:55 PM
Oct 2013

However, how long was he dead when he was discovered? Or could he have been killed for his organs? The first autopsy would have revealed this unless it was a coverup. Ouch! That tin foil hat is too tight.

 

fitman

(482 posts)
15. Maybe I am watching Investigative Discovery (ID) channel too much lol
Thu Oct 10, 2013, 03:03 PM
Oct 2013

But after watching the weird circumstances on those shows nothing would surprise me any more.

 

Pretzel_Warrior

(8,361 posts)
7. And accidentally hit the switch on a newspaper stuffing machine?
Thu Oct 10, 2013, 02:42 PM
Oct 2013

Weird. Next they will blame the local mortician for his shoddy "newspaper-based embalming methods".

XemaSab

(60,212 posts)
8. Sounds like the newspaper stuffing happened during or after the first autopsy
Thu Oct 10, 2013, 02:44 PM
Oct 2013

but this whole thing reeks of a coverup.

Response to joeybee12 (Original post)

mike_c

(36,281 posts)
11. "...a second autopsy...."
Thu Oct 10, 2013, 02:46 PM
Oct 2013

I presume the pathologist would have removed his organs for examination, measurement, and histology during the previous autopsy. I don't know whether it's normal practice to dispose of them as biological waste afterward, but stuffing the body cavity with some sort of filling would probably be a concession to open casket funeral services.

former9thward

(32,093 posts)
14. This is common and not a big deal.
Thu Oct 10, 2013, 02:58 PM
Oct 2013

In a previous job I witnessed dozens of autopsies at Chicago's Cook County Medical Examiner's Office. Various organs are taken out for later testing and paper is put in the body so the body does not collapse in on itself before family viewing/burial. In Chicago they usually used tissue paper or similar. The lawyer is just trying to take advantage of public ignorance of this practice and generate outrage.

 

joeybee12

(56,177 posts)
16. Keep reading...the second autopsy shows he died from blunt trauma
Thu Oct 10, 2013, 03:11 PM
Oct 2013

not suffocation...there's a cover-up and a pretty lame one, too.

former9thward

(32,093 posts)
18. I realize that.
Thu Oct 10, 2013, 03:13 PM
Oct 2013

But the OP headline was about the body being stuffed with newspapers. The headline was not about murder or cover up.

Blue_Tires

(55,445 posts)
17. Well, to be fair there hasn't been anywhere near enough outrage generated over this...
Thu Oct 10, 2013, 03:12 PM
Oct 2013

And I'm still interested to know how the GBI ever came to such a laughable "official" conclusion....

 

Sheepshank

(12,504 posts)
20. But the body parts should have been placed back into the body for burial.
Thu Oct 10, 2013, 03:17 PM
Oct 2013

it is the decent, kind and honerable thing to do for the family.

I've heard of bones being removed and PVC piping used to replace the bones. The cadaver bones were used for grafting..and had been removed without the consent of the family. THIS is what Iwonder has happenened in the OP? Research or transplanting without consent. The morg or funeral home stands to make a lot of money from harvesting body parts.

abelenkpe

(9,933 posts)
30. Such a sad story!
Thu Oct 10, 2013, 05:03 PM
Oct 2013

I read about it awhile ago. Feel so bad for his family! Definitely not an accident. This news makes the story even more suspect.

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