VALDOSTA – While the parents of Kendrick Johnson await hearings to determine the amount of lawyers’ fees they will be required to pay in connection with civil suits they filed then later dropped, they have filed a new federal action which repeats many of the same claims in the dismissed suits, including alleging Sheriff Chris Prine, Superintendent Wes Taylor and FBI Agent Rick Bell personally staged Johnson’s body after his death.
The body of Kendrick Johnson was found upside down in a vertically-stored gym mat at Lowndes High School in January 2013. A state autopsy ruled the 17-year-old’s death accidental. The Johnson family insists their son died of foul play.
In a complaint for damages filed in the Middle District Court of Georgia on August 17, Kenneth and Jackie Johnson again claim nearly 40 individuals and agencies were involved in actions that either led to the death of Kendrick Johnson or contributed to covering up the cause of his death, in violation of his civil rights.
A similar complaint was filed in state court more than a year ago but was transferred to the federal level because of the civil rights allegations. The Johnsons’ lawyer, Chevene King, then removed the civil rights complaints, and a judge moved the case back to the state level. In that hearing, defendants’ lawyers predicted King would add the civil rights allegations again and refile the suit at a later date in an attempt to prolong proceedings.
This new complaint is a combination of suits filed against the Lowndes County School Board, which were later dropped and cannot be refiled due to a missed deadline, and the $100 million suit against multiple individuals and agencies, which was also dropped.
The federal suit offers the same conspiracy as previous suits and again offers no evidence to support the claims.
Last week, the Johnsons were ordered to pay lawyers’ fees in connection with those lawsuits. Hearings to determine the exact amount are scheduled to begin this week. Lawyers for the former defendants in those suits are seeking nearly $900,000.
A GoFundMe page set up to help pay those attorneys’ fees had, as of 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, received no donations.
In deposition testimony made public during court proceedings, the Johnsons admitted they did not know many of the individuals they were suing or what connection they had to their son’s death.
The Johnsons also admitted in deposition testimony they had no evidence to substantiate claims they made in the lawsuit.
One claim removed from an earlier complaint is back in the latest filing.
The Johnsons again claim Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine, Lowndes County Schools Superintendent Wes Taylor and FBI Agent Rick Bell personally gained access to the old gym at Lowndes High School and placed Kendrick Johnson’s body upside down in a rolled gym mat to be discovered the next morning during classes.
King removed that allegation from the $100 million dollar suit, claiming it was a “typographical error.”
Click here to read the entire complaint.
