UNSOLVED: The School Gym Murder 2

Summary

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Murder: True Crime Stories

Episode: UNSOLVED: The School Gym Murder 2

Host: Carter Roy / Crime House
Date: December 11, 2025

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Overview

This episode is the second part of a two-part deep dive into the unresolved death of Kendrick Johnson, a 17-year-old high school student from Valdosta, Georgia, found dead inside a rolled-up gym mat in 2013. The story unfolds through the Johnson family's unrelenting pursuit of justice, casting doubt on the official accident ruling and probing the cascade of investigations, lawsuits, and theories that followed. This episode zeroes in on the second investigation, the mounting evidence of possible cover-up, the role of racial prejudice, and new revelations brought to light by public pressure and renewed inquiry.

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Main Discussion Points and Insights

The Discovery and Initial Investigation

• Timeline recap:

  • January 11, 2013: Kendrick Johnson’s body found upside down in a rolled-up gym mat at Lowndes High School.
  • Initial autopsy: Ruled accidental asphyxia while reaching for a sneaker.
  • Family’s rejection: Johnson family suspicious, seeking an independent second autopsy.

• Medical contradictions:

  • Second pathologist, Dr. William Anderson, finds injuries consistent with blunt force trauma, contradicting asphyxia ruling. (06:03 - 06:13)
  • Family pressures for reopening the case, citing possible racial bias.

Advances in the Case — The Second Investigation

• Federal Inquiry Launched:

  • October 31, 2013: US Attorney Matthew Moore announces a second investigation, forming a task force including DOJ, US Marshals, and DC police. (07:17 - 07:40)
  • Family's relief: “The announcement felt like a huge victory for the Johnson family. They hugged each other and cheered...” (07:40)

• Scrutiny on School Relationships:

  • Focus on students William and Sean Clark (pseudonyms; sons of local FBI agent “Scott Clark”) due to past conflicts and rumors of possible involvement.
  • Suspicion that local authorities gave special treatment to the Clarks due to Scott’s status in the FBI.
  • Quote: “Kenneth thought the authorities were letting his sons off easy.” (09:30)

• Discrepancies in Police Theories:

  • Geometry of mats: Gym mats' openings (14 inches) seemingly too small for Kendrick (shoulders nearly 19 inches) to crawl into unaided. (10:59 - 11:13)
  • Investigation skepticism: “Students told police that when they retrieved their gym shoes, they usually tipped the mats over or unrolled them. They never stuck their whole bodies inside of them.” (10:07 - 10:13)

Apparent Cover-Ups and Tampered Evidence

• Compromised Surveillance Footage:

  • Review by CNN and a forensic analyst revealed that hours of gym surveillance video were missing/corrupted during key times. (13:16)
  • Quote: “Some footage was completely missing...these cameras should have been recording...but somehow they were all missing about an hour of tape during the crucial time period...” (13:22 - 14:06)

• The Blood-Stained Shoe Mystery:

  • A clean Adidas sneaker found on top of Kendrick’s pooled blood, countering police theory that Kendrick was reaching for it.
  • Quote: “If Kendrick was positioned right over the shoe, the dripping blood should have soaked the Adidas. Instead, his blood had pooled on the floor first. Then it seemed like someone had placed the shoe on top of it.” (11:50 - 12:14)

Legal Battles and Public Conspiracies

• Wave of Lawsuits:

  • July 28, 2014: Johnsons file wrongful death suit against Lowndes County Board of Education for surveillance and failure to protect Kendrick. (17:12 - 17:19)
  • Defamation suit: Scott Clark sues Ebony magazine after rumors implicated his sons, despite evidence the sons weren’t present.
  • $100M civil suit: Johnsons sue Clarks, school, police, and officials for homicide cover-up. Local judges all recuse themselves due to conflicts, suit moved to neighboring county. (21:19 - 22:14)

• Accusations, Retractions, and Witness Trouble:

  • Anonymous email accuses Sean Clark, but claims are retracted and found unreliable.
  • New witness (Ryan Domak Hernandez) later arrested on unrelated charges, fueling further conspiracy beliefs by Kendrick’s family.

Ongoing Obstacles and Stalled Justice

• Investigation Roadblocks:

  • Missing evidence: Original autopsy resulted in lost organs; key physical evidence lacking.
  • Task force fails to directly tie suspects to the crime scene; legal and procedural shifts with resignations of US attorneys on the case.
  • Quote: “They felt like they were being stopped at every turn. And instead of helping them get justice, the system was standing in their way.” (25:37 - 25:54)

• Public Re-engagement and a Third Investigation:

  • 2020: BLM protests re-energize case; 1.7 million signatures on a petition to reopen.
  • 2021: Sheriff Ashley Paulk reopens case, personally offers $500,000 reward for info.

• Documentary Revelations:

  • “Finding Kendrick Johnson” documentary exposes overlooked FBI report: footage places William Clark on campus during the window of Kendrick’s disappearance, contradicting prior alibis. (33:29 - 33:54)
  • Quote: “The fact that the FBI had evidence that contradicted what the brothers and their father had said was damning, especially because it seemed like the Bureau never did anything about it.” (34:00 - 34:05)

Final Outcomes and Unresolved Questions

• 2022 Closure:

  • Sheriff Paulk closes third investigation, stating again there was no homicide or cover-up.
  • Quote (Sheriff statement): “There was no homicide, no cover up, no conspiracy. It was simply a tragic and bizarre accident.” (34:42)

• Johnson Family Perseverance:

  • Family refuses to give up, exhuming body for a third autopsy, which again suggests blunt force trauma.
  • Johnson family faces legal and financial hardship but maintains advocacy through the Kendrick Johnson Foundation, committed to transparency and justice.

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• “The announcement felt like a huge victory for the Johnson family. They hugged each other and cheered as Matthew Moore answered questions on the screen.” (07:40)
• “Students told police that when they retrieved their gym shoes, they usually tipped the mats over or unrolled them. They never stuck their whole bodies inside of them.” (10:07 - 10:13)
• “If Kendrick was positioned right over the shoe, the dripping blood should have soaked the Adidas. Instead, his blood had pooled on the floor first. Then it seemed like someone had placed the shoe on top of it.” (11:50 - 12:14)
• “The Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department claimed the footage was raw and unedited, but the analysts discovered the videos were altered to make the image quality worse...some footage was completely missing.” (13:22 - 13:48)
• “They felt like they were being stopped at every turn. And instead of helping them get justice, the system was standing in their way.” (25:37 - 25:54)
• “The fact that the FBI had evidence that contradicted what the brothers and their father had said was damning, especially because it seemed like the Bureau never did anything about it.” (34:00 - 34:05)
• Sheriff Paulk: “There was no homicide, no cover up, no conspiracy. It was simply a tragic and bizarre accident.” (34:42)

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Key Timeline & Timestamps

| Timestamp | Event/Summary | |-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------| | 04:39 | Kendrick's body discovery, shock and first autopsy | | 06:13 | Second autopsy: evidence of blunt force trauma | | 07:40 | US Attorney Moore launches second investigation | | 10:07 | Students’ gym mat routine vs. official police accident theory | | 11:50 | Adidas shoe blood/pooling contradiction | | 13:22 | Surveillance video tampering revelation | | 17:19 | Family files wrongful death lawsuit | | 22:14 | Johnsons’ $100M civil suit moved to another county | | 24:07 | FBI agent Scott Clark's house is raided by the US Marshals | | 25:54 | Family expresses frustration with perpetual obstacles | | 31:06 | Third autopsy: further evidence of blunt force trauma | | 33:29 | FBI report: William Clark on campus during Kendrick's disappearance | | 34:42 | Sheriff Paulk's closure statement |

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Final Reflection

Despite a decade and three separate investigations, Kendrick Johnson's death remains unresolved, mired in alleged cover-ups, conflicting evidence, problematic procedures, and deep family loss. The Johnson family’s advocacy forced repeated reexaminations of the case, drawing national and governmental attention. With each new finding—surveillance gaps, contradictory autopsies, and disputed alibis—the case highlights systemic challenges in American death investigations, especially where race and official relationships intersect. The family’s ongoing campaign serves both as a search for justice for Kendrick and fuel for reform in handling of suspicious deaths.

If you wish to learn more or support the cause, visit justiceforkendrickjohnson17.org.

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Transcript

[Carter Roy]

Foreign.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

This is Crime House.

Losing a loved one is never easy, especially when their death seems to defy explanation. But when you're desperately searching for answers, it can take over your life and in some cases, even tear families apart.

[Carter Roy]

From but for the Johnson family of.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Valdosta, Georgia, the loss of 17 year old Kendrick Johnson united them. They had one shared goal, to find justice for the boy they loved. The family was relentless in their search for the truth, doing interviews, protesting outside.

[Carter Roy]

Courtrooms, and making sure no one in.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Valdosta forgot Kendrick's name. But as the investigation dragged on without an end in sight, the Johnsons became convinced there was a cover up at play. And if the authorities had their way, Kendrick's killer would never be held accountable.

People's lives are like a story. There's a beginning, a middle, and an end. But you don't always know which part you're on. Sometimes the final chapter arrives far too soon, and we don't always get to know the real ending.

[Carter Roy]

I'm Carter Roy and this is Murder.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

True Crime Stories, the Crime House original powered by Pave Studios that comes out every Tuesday and Thursday. Crime House is made possible by you. Follow Murder True Crime Stories and subscribe to Crime House plus us on Apple Podcasts for ad free early access to each two part series. And if you can't get enough true.

[Carter Roy]

Crime, go search and follow Crime House daily.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Our team's twice a day show bringing you breaking cases, updates and unbelievable stories from the world of crime that are happening right now. Please be advised that this episode includes sensitive content involving the death of a minor and graphic medical findings. Please listen with care. This is the second of two episodes on the mysterious death of 17 year old Kendrick Johnson in 2013. Last time we talked about the day Kendrick's body was found inside a rolled up gym mat at his high school in Valdosta, Georgia. The police ruled that his death was a freak accident, but Kendrick's family wasn't convinced. They kept pushing for a second investigation.

[Carter Roy]

And thanks to their efforts, U.S. attorney.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Matthew Moore reopened the case.

[Carter Roy]

Today we'll cover the next phase of.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

The investigation into Kendrick's death and the.

[Carter Roy]

Legal battles that followed.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

As federal officials re examined the evidence, the Johnson family became convinced that local authorities had covered up the truth that Kendrick was murdered. And as the years passed, the Johnsons began to wonder if they'd ever get closure. All that and more coming up.

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[Narrator / Crime House Host]

On January 11, 2013, a group of students found the body of their classmate, 17 year old Kendrick Johnson, during gym class at Lowndes High School. He was upside down, trapped inside a rolled up gym mat. The discovery shocked the community of Valdosta, Georgia.

[Carter Roy]

Kendrick was the youngest of five siblings.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

A star athlete and well liked at school. His death wasn't just unusual, it was horrific and terrified parents wanted to know how on earth could this have happened? At Lowndes, a second shock came when the autopsy results arrived.

[Carter Roy]

According to the coroner, Kendrick died from asphyxia.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

His death wasn't a murder, it was a bizarre accident. Detectives believe Kendrick died while trying to retrieve a pair of Adidas sneakers. It was common for kids at the school to hide their gym shoes inside the rolled up mats. The police believed Kendrick dove face first into a vertical mat to fish out his sneakers, got stuck and suffocated. But Kendrick's family didn't believe the police and a few months later they paid for a second independent autopsy. The new pathologist, Dr. William Anderson, said it was impossible that Kendrick had died from asphyxiation. Instead, he found bruising on Kendrick's jaw.

[Carter Roy]

Damage to his chest and internal bleeding in his neck. These were all consistent with deliberate blunt force trauma.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

And according to Dr. Anderson, Kendrick's death was no accident. Someone had killed him. After the second autopsy, the Johnson family pressured the state to reopen Kendrick's case.

[Carter Roy]

Because Kendrick was black, they felt police.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Hadn'T done their Due diligence. And the U.S. attorney for the district, Matthew Moore, agreed. On October 31, 2013, 10 months after Kendrick's death, the Johnson family was sitting outside the Lowndes County Courthouse. This wasn't new for them.

[Carter Roy]

They'd spent the better part of the year sitting on folding chairs on this same sidewalk. They came every weekday, armed with signs.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

And slogans calling for justice for Kendrick.

[Carter Roy]

Today, they watched a portable TV that.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Was broadcasting live from inside the courthouse. On the screen, US Attorney Matthew Moore addressed a crowd of reporters.

[Carter Roy]

He told them he would be launching.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

A second inquiry into the case. The first investigation had been handled by the sheriff's office. This time, Moore would bring out the big guns.

[Carter Roy]

He'd put together a task force of attorneys and federal investigators from the Department of Justice, the U.S. marshals Service, and the Washington, D.C. police Department.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

They would follow the facts wherever they led and settle Kendrick's cause of death once and for all. The announcement felt like a huge victory for the Johnson family. They hugged each other and cheered as Matthew Moore answered questions on the screen. Finally, all their advocacy had paid off.

[Carter Roy]

The first thing Moore's task force planned.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

To do was re interview almost 100 people. The list included Kendrick's family, friends, classmates, and the officers who originally investigated the case. Like the Lowndes County Sheriff's Department before.

[Carter Roy]

Them, the task force found only a few people of interest. By all accounts, Kendrick was a well.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Liked, all American kid, not exactly the type to have enemies. But the team did find some people Kendrick had a bad history with. About a year before his death, Kendrick got into a fight with a football teammate. This was the student we mentioned last time who we're calling William Clark. Well, after the fight, which Kendrick apparently won, William's brother Sean told classmates that things weren't over between the two of them. Even Sean and William's father, who we're calling Scott, allegedly got involved.

[Carter Roy]

Kendrick's dad, Kenneth, claimed that Scott confronted Kendrick at school. He reportedly invited Kendrick to his house.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

For a rematch with his son. Scott denied that conversation ever took place. But Kenneth Johnson stood by the story.

[Carter Roy]

Kenneth also believed the local police had.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Given the Clarks special treatment. Because Scott Clark was an FBI agent.

[Carter Roy]

Kenneth thought the authorities were letting his sons off easy.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

It was a loaded accusation. But the Johnsons weren't afraid of calling out the police.

They thought the local authorities had decided early on that Kendrick died in a freak accident.

[Carter Roy]

And that's why they didn't fully investigate.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Other potential causes of death.

[Carter Roy]

Even worse, their official explanation didn't match the evidence. Even if Kendrick had suffocated, the idea.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

That he dove headfirst into the mat seemed ridiculous.

[Carter Roy]

Students told police that when they retrieved their gym shoes, they usually tipped the mats over or unrolled them.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

They never stuck their whole bodies inside of them.

[Carter Roy]

But Sheriff Chris Prine argued that Kendrick.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Must have done just that. The day Kendrick died, 21 gym mats.

[Carter Roy]

Were standing upright, three deep against the wall. Kendrick's body was found in the middle.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Row, surrounded by mats on all sides.

[Carter Roy]

Prine said the mats would have been too heavy for Kendrick to move on his own.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

That's why he dove inside for his shoes. Once he got stuck, he couldn't get out. Even if he'd rocked the mat back and forth. The other heavy vertical mats had locked him in place. But the Johnson family didn't buy it. Kendrick's shoulders were 19 inches wide, but.

[Carter Roy]

The police report stated the opening of.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

The rolled up mat only measured 14 inches.

[Carter Roy]

His body was found with at least one arm outstretched, meaning his shoulders could have squeezed inside. But 14 inches was too tight for.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Him to manage on his own. The Johnsons believed there was a simpler explanation, that Kendrick's killer had rolled him up inside the mat.

And there was another detail the Johnsons couldn't get past. The first medical examiner said that being upside down for so long had caused blood to rush to Kendrick's head. That's why there was blood dripping onto the floor underneath the mat when he was discovered.

[Carter Roy]

But the Adidas shoe that was sitting.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

On top of the puddle of blood, the one Kendrick was supposedly trying to.

[Carter Roy]

Reach, was completely clean. Kendrick's family argued this made no sense. If Kendrick was positioned right over the shoe, the dripping blood should have soaked the Adidas. Instead, his blood had pooled on the floor first. Then it seemed like someone had placed the shoe on top of it.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

For the Johnsons, the implication was clear. Whoever had killed Kendrick had tried to stage the murder as an accident. The U.S. attorney Matthew Moore, took these accusations seriously. So his next step was to see if the first investigation had missed any other clues in the gym. To figure that out, his task force needed to review the school's security cameras.

These videos have been a problem since the start of the investigation.

[Carter Roy]

Each camera's individual timestamp was inaccurate, so it was difficult to make heads or.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Tails of the timeline. One set of cameras spotted Kendrick entering the gym at 1:09pm Another set captured.

[Carter Roy]

The same movement, but marked it at 1:19pm and there were other discrepancies too. In November 2013, CNN examined the videos themselves. They hired a forensic video analyst to pick apart nearly 300 hours of footage.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Taken from 35 camera cameras. What the analysts found was shocking.

[Carter Roy]

The Lowndes County Sheriff's Department claimed the footage was raw and unedited, but the analysts discovered the videos were altered to make the image quality worse. Certain files were even corrupted, making them unwatchable. And most damning, some footage was completely missing.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

There were four motion activated cameras inside the gym that were partially working. These cameras should have been recording from the time the lights turned on in the morning until they were turned off at night.

[Carter Roy]

But somehow they were all missing about an hour of tape during the crucial.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Time period just after Kendrick entered the gym. It could have been just an odd coincidence. Perhaps there was no motion inside the gym during that period. But that didn't seem to make sense because other cameras positioned outside clearly showed seven other male students entering the gym.

[Carter Roy]

During the missing hour.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

For the Johnson family and other skeptics, there was no doubt someone had tampered with the footage and the local police had turned a blind eye. With every new discovery, the Johnson family became even angrier.

[Carter Roy]

They already believed the police had let.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Their son's killer get away with murder, but now they were starting to think something much darker was at play.

[Carter Roy]

They thought the incompetence may have been.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Intentional, that the investigation wasn't just sloppy, it was a cover up.

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[Carter Roy]

Phew.

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[Narrator / Crime House Host]

By June 2014, the second investigation into the death of 17 year old Kendrick Johnson was in full swing. But Kendrick's family wasn't willing to just sit by and wait for the results.

[Carter Roy]

They believed there was a wide ranging conspiracy to protect Kendrick's killer and they.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Wanted Valdosta officials to be held accountable.

[Carter Roy]

On July 28, 2014, the Johnsons filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

The suit claimed that Lowndes County Board of Education failed to maintain a functioning surveillance system. The suit also alleged that the board.

[Carter Roy]

Had ignored reports that Kendrick was being.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Harassed by William Clark. Lawyers for the Board of Education denied the charges, but the legal battles were only just beginning. In August 2014, William's father, an FBI agent We're calling Scott, filed a lawsuit of his own.

[Carter Roy]

He sued Ebony magazine for defamation after they published an article about Kendrick's death. Though the piece used pseudonyms, it connected.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

His sons William and Sean with the investigation.

[Carter Roy]

The suit took aim at an anonymous.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Email that was sent to the Lowndes County Sheriff, which Ebony had used as a source. The sender claimed that Kendrick slept with Shawn Clark's girlfriend, looking for revenge. Sean then killed him in a jealous rage, but the email wasn't reliable. The officers tracked down the anonymous sender.

[Carter Roy]

And found that all of their claims.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Were based on secondhand gossip.

[Carter Roy]

And two weeks before the Ebony article.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Was published, the sender retracted the email entirely. Still, Scott alleged that because of the article, his sons were harassed at school. He wanted to make it very clear that not only was the email false.

[Carter Roy]

But neither William nor Shawn were anywhere near the gym.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

When Kendrick died, William was on a.

[Carter Roy]

Bus to a wrestling tournament in another city and Sean was in class on.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

The other side of the school.

As the case continued to make headlines.

[Carter Roy]

It seemed like everyone in Valdosta had.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

An opinion about what happened to Kendrick. And even with several lawsuits floating around, accusations kept coming. At some point after the Ebony article went live, a man named Ryan Domak Hernandez came forward to accuse the Clarks.

[Carter Roy]

He told the Johnson family that when he was at Sean's apartment, Shawn said.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

That William had killed Kendrick Johnson.

[Carter Roy]

According to Ryan, William struck Kendrick with.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

A dumbbell while in the haze of a roid rage. But this accusation had its problems, too. Ryan said the conversation happened at Sean's apartment in Jacksonville, Florida, where he moved to after graduating from Lowndes in 2014 or 2015.

[Carter Roy]

But at the time he said they spoke, Sean was still apparently living in Valdosta.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

It was another he said, she said exchange.

[Carter Roy]

But it didn't end there. Two weeks after coming to the Johnsons.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

With this information, Ryan was the one in hot water.

[Carter Roy]

At around 5:30 in the morning, a local woman woke to find a man.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Trying to force his way into her home. She claims she saw Ryan Domak Hernandez punch through her window and try to break in. Half an hour later, Ryan showed up at an emergency room with a bloody hand. He tried to register at the front desk under a fake name, but an officer there recognized him. He was quickly arrested for trespassing.

[Carter Roy]

It seemed like a simple case of.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Breaking and entering, But Kendrick's mother, Jackie, saw it differently.

[Carter Roy]

She told the press that Ryan had.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Been silenced after he accused Sean and.

[Carter Roy]

William Clark, the police made up a.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Crime to arrest him. It was all part of their scheme to cover up what happened to Kendrick. By the beginning of 2015, the Johnsons were worried they would never get justice for Kendrick. So they decided to take matters into their own hands. In January 2015, two years after Kendrick's.

[Carter Roy]

Death, they filed a $100 million lawsuit.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

They named several of Kendrick's classmates, including.

[Carter Roy]

The Clarks, the school superintendent, the Valdosta police chief, and the state medical examiner. In total, they accused 38 local, state.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

And federal officials of covering up a homicide. But as they'd come to expect, nothing in this case was easy.

[Carter Roy]

Because when they tried to file the suit in Lowndes county, all seven Superior Court judges recused themselves from the case. The judges said that they worked with.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

The officials in question nearly every day.

[Carter Roy]

They felt that hearing the suit would.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Constitute a conflict of interest to Kendrick's family. This smelled like more of the same corruption. The suit ended up being filed in a neighboring county.

[Carter Roy]

But if the Johnsons were hoping it.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Would finally get their questions answered, they were sorely disappointed. Because by the summer of 2015, more than two years since Kendrick's death, the lawsuits had gotten nowhere, and the second official investigation was still dragging on. According to homicide detective Mitch Cradle, who assisted with the investigation, there were a lot of issues with the case. As we mentioned in the previous episode, Kendrick's organs went missing after the Original autopsy. That, combined with the faulty surveillance footage, meant there was a severe lack of physical evidence.

[Carter Roy]

And most importantly, they didn't have any.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Proof that directly connected one of their suspects to the scene of the crime. Sensing they wouldn't have a strong murder case to bring to court, the team changed tactics.

[Carter Roy]

Instead, they focused on charging Scott Clark.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

With obstruction of justice.

[Carter Roy]

It turned out that Scott was interviewing witnesses. But Scott was not a member of the investigation. Detective Cradle said almost every person he spoke to had been contacted by Scott. One witness even said Scott came to her work multiple times. Some were threatened by his presence. A few even believed they were being followed.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

It's revelations like this that make it easy to see why the Johnsons believed something sinister was going on.

[Carter Roy]

So they were relieved when the authorities.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Took the accusations against Scott seriously.

[Carter Roy]

In the early morning hours of July 2015, more than a dozen U.S. marshals.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Showed up outside of Scott's home. Armed agents flooded the house, seizing his phones and computers.

[Carter Roy]

The raid seemed to mark a turning.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Point in the case.

[Carter Roy]

But even as investigators searched through the electronics they seized, they got another shock. On November 23, two years into the second investigation, Matthew Moore suddenly resigned. He wouldn't comment on why, other than.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

To say he was taking a private sector job in Atlanta.

[Carter Roy]

In his absence, the case went to another U.S. attorney, Stephen Dettelbach. But Dettelbach served in the Northern District.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Of Ohio, not in Georgia, states away. For the Johnson family, it was another crushing blow. They didn't understand why the case wasn't given to Moore's successor in Georgia.

[Carter Roy]

And they claim that Matthew Moore didn't just leave because he got a new job.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

They were convinced he was forced out because he got too close to the truth. Two months later, their suspicions were reignited after Dettelbach suddenly resigned, too. He left to work at a private law firm, just like Moore. The investigation remained open under Dettelbach's successor in Ohio, Michael Tobin. But for the Johnson family, it seemed like their nightmare would never end.

[Carter Roy]

After almost three years, they still didn't.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Know what happened to Kendrick. They felt like they were being stopped at every turn. And instead of helping them get justice, the system was standing in their way. All they wanted was for the second investigation to come to an end. But when it finally did, nobody felt like celebrating.

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[Narrator / Crime House Host]

By 2016, three years after Kendrick Johnson's death, the case had become a complicated tangle of investigations, legal battles and conspiracies. It's a lot to keep track of, so here's a recap. The second investigation began in Valdosta, Georgia in October of 2013. Three years later, it was still open, but was now being handled by the Justice Department in the Northern District of Ohio. Meanwhile, the Johnson family had filed two outstanding lawsuits. One was a wrongful death suit aimed at the Lowndes County Board of Education. The Second was a $100 million civil lawsuit that accused 38 people of covering up a homicide. That one had to be filed in a neighboring county because the local judges recused themselves. However, by March 2016, the family had voluntarily dismissed both suits, but they kept the right to refile them in the future. We don't know entirely why they did this, but maybe they wanted to regroup and try again later. The Clark family also had some ongoing suits. First was a defamation case against Ebony magazine, and second was a countersuit to the Johnsons $100 million civil suit. They claimed the Johnson family had disparaged them without evidence. Both suits were still making their way through the courts with no real end in sight and all the legal back and forth distracted from the crux of the matter. Finding out what happened to Kendrick Johnson.

By the summer of 2016, the second investigation finally came to an end. Kendrick's parents, Kenneth and Jackie, met with officials from the Department of Justice in June.

[Carter Roy]

According to Kenneth, the Department of justice.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Officials told him they had deep suspicions about how the case was handled. He claimed they said the Adidas shoe.

[Carter Roy]

Found near Kendrick's body was the clean.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Shoe sitting on a pool of blood.

[Carter Roy]

Was planted, but they couldn't prove who planted it. The DOJ's official conclusion was that while.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Kendrick didn't die in an accident, there.

[Carter Roy]

Wasn'T enough evidence to charge anyone with a crime.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

The Johnson family was heartbroken, yet Again. And the saga wasn't over yet. Soon after the case closed, Scott Clark resigned from the FBI. Kenneth Johnson said Scott wasn't simply quitting his job.

[Carter Roy]

According to him, DOJ officials revealed they.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Had evidence that Scott had engaged in some kind of corruption. Rather than arrest him or fire him, they pressured him to resign. It's important to note that Kenneth has no direct evidence to support his claims, and the DOJ hasn't commented on his statements. But before long, Kenneth and his family had bigger things to worry about. In 2017, the Johnsons were dealt another crushing blow. Even though they had dismissed their $100 million lawsuit alleging a cover up, a Georgia judge ordered the family to pay.

[Carter Roy]

Nearly $300,000 in legal fees to the defendants.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

The judge said the family had no evidence for their claim in the first place.

[Carter Roy]

Meanwhile, the Clark family reached a $500,000.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Settlement with Ebony magazine for their defamation suit. But even with their loss in court.

[Carter Roy]

The Johnson family refused to give up. In 2018, they exhumed Kendrick's body and.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Performed a third autopsy.

[Carter Roy]

This time, the pathologists uncovered even more evidence that Kendrick died of blunt force trauma. The first autopsy, which had guided the.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Initial investigation, determined he died of accidental asphyxia.

[Carter Roy]

Now two other autopsies contradicted it. The family sent the latest autopsy report to local officials. But after two separate investigations, no one.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Was willing to reopen the case.

[Carter Roy]

The Johnsons were left seeking justice for two more years until 2020, when the.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Black Lives Matter protests mobilized millions across the United States. In response, politicians reexamined claims of racial prejudice and police misconduct. Kendrick Johnson returned to the headlines, and a Change.org petition calling to reopen the case got a staggering 1.7 million signatures. All the public pressure led to what the Johnson family had been praying for. Another investigation. On March 10, 2021, the new Lowndes.

[Carter Roy]

County sheriff, Ashley Paulk, reopened the case. He even offered a $500,000 reward out of his own pocket for information leading.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

To a murder conviction.

[Carter Roy]

The Justice Department sent the sheriff 17.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Boxes of evidence they had collected during their inquiry.

[Carter Roy]

Meanwhile, a group of filmmakers created a.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Documentary on the case to raise awareness. Released in 2021, entitled Finding Kendrick Johnson, the film uncovered some shocking information. And the biggest bombshell was based on an FBI report about Lowndes High School's surveillance system. After poring over it, the filmmakers discovered something that had apparently been overlooked, something with the potential to change everything.

[Carter Roy]

Throughout multiple investigations, William and Sean Clark.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Maintained they never saw Kendrick on the day of his death. Their testimony also placed William on a.

[Carter Roy]

Bus headed to a wrestling tournament at the time.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Kendrick disappeared around 1:09pm that day.

[Carter Roy]

But according to the FBI report, William.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Can be seen in surveillance footage on campus at the time Kendrick went missing. It seemed he missed the bus. Not only that, but there was also.

[Carter Roy]

Clear footage of William walking by Kendrick.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

At 9:56am that day. The FBI took a full color screenshot of the frame and labeled it, confirming.

[Carter Roy]

That they knew William and Kendrick were.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

In the same room as each other.

[Carter Roy]

The fact that the FBI had evidence that contradicted what the brothers and their.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Father had said said was damning, especially because it seemed like the Bureau never did anything about it. Given Scott's work as an FBI agent, this only fueled more theories about a cover up.

Unfortunately, the revelations about the surveillance video didn't do much. In January 2022, the third investigation was officially closed. Sheriff Pak didn't end up filing any charges in connection with Kendrick's death.

[Carter Roy]

He released a statement saying in part.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

There was no homicide, no cover up, no conspiracy. It was simply a tragic and bizarre accident. For the Johnson family, this was just the latest in a long list of disappointing rulings.

It's not clear what the future holds for the Kendrick Johnson case. At the moment, there aren't any plans for another investigation, but after more than 10 years of advocacy, it doesn't seem like the Johnson family is going to give up anytime soon. They continue to do everything they can to find new evidence and keep pressure on investigators. We can only hope that someday soon they'll find answers and the justice they've been looking for. If you have any information about the case or want to get involved, the Johnsons have established the Kendrick Johnson Foundation. Their mission is to ensure that Kendrick's life and story are never forgotten. Not only that, but they strive to support other families facing similar tragedies and advocate for policy changes and promote greater transparency and fairness in death investigations. You can learn more at justiceforkendrickjohnson17.org.

Thanks so much for listening. I'm Carter Roy and this this is Murder True Crime Stories. Come back next week for the story of a new murder and all the people it affected. True Crime Stories is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media, rimehouse on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review and follow True Crime Stories stories wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference and to enhance your Murder True Crime Stories listening experience.

[Carter Roy]

Subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode ad free and.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Instead of having to wait for each episode of a two part series, you'll get access to both at once plus exciting bonus content.

[Carter Roy]

We'll be back on Tuesday.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

True Crime Stories is hosted by Me, Carter Roy and is a Crime House original. Powered by Pave Studios, this episode was brought to life by the Murder True Crime Stories team. Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benidon, Natalie Pertzofsky, Lori Marinelli, Sarah Camp, Tara Wells, Molly Quinlan, Artwick Haniya Said and Russell Nash. Thank you for listening. Foreign.

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[Carter Roy]

Listen, don't miss Clues with Morgan Abshur.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

And Kaylan Moore Every Wednesday, Morgan and Kaelin take you deep into the world of the most notorious crimes ever. Clue by clue. It's like hanging out with with your.

[Carter Roy]

Smart, true crime obsessed friends. Listen to clues on Apple Podcasts, Spotify.

[Narrator / Crime House Host]

Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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