VALDOSTA – Just before the parents of Kendrick Johnson were ordered to pay lawyers’ fees to dozens of individuals they accused of being involved in their son’s death, the Johnson’s lawyer filed a statement from a man claiming to have heard a spontaneous confession from one of the brothers wrapped up in the Johnsons’ massive conspiracy theory.

The man was later arrested on trespassing charges, and Jackie Johnson, Kendrick’s mother, has claimed the arrest was “bogus” and an attempt to silence supposed new evidence in the Kendrick Johnson case.

Was a witness silenced? Is there new credible evidence to be presented in this case?

Background

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 Johnson’s death accidental, and a federal review of the case ended in 2016 when the Department of Justice announced it had not found “sufficient evidence to support federal criminal charges.”

The Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation determined Johnson died from positional asphyxia after he became stuck, squeezing himself into a rolled up gym mat while reaching down into the mat to retrieve a shoe.

Despite the findings, Johnson’s parents have insisted their son was the victim of foul play and accused dozens of local and state officials of participating in a wide-ranging conspiracy to cover it up.

The $100 million civil suit

The conspiracy was laid out in a $100 million wrongful death suit filed by Johnson’s parents in 2015.

At the heart of their allegations is the belief that Kendrick was killed by Brian and Branden Bell, LHS students and the sons of former FBI agent Rick Bell. The suit also claimed the the Bell’s father staged Kendrick’s body at Lowndes High School with the direct help of the school’s superintendent and the Lowndes County Sheriff with further assistance from dozens of state and local officials.

But during sworn deposition testimony, Kenneth Johnson, Kendrick’s father, admitted he had no evidence to support any of the claims made in the lawsuit.

The Johnsons eventually withdrew the suit, and a judge ruled they would be held responsible for the lawyers’ fees of those they accused without evidence. They have since filed another suit which makes the same claims.

On August 8, a judge ordered the Johnsons to pay nearly $300,000 in lawyers’ fees.

A witness comes forth?

On August 6, two days before the Johnsons were ordered to pay attorneys’ fees, Chevene King, the Johnson’s lawyer, filed an affidavit in opposition to the pending fees ruling that contained a statement from a 27-year-old Valdosta man, Ryan Anthony Domek-Hernandez.

In the statement, Domek-Hernandez claims he was at Branden Bell’s Jacksonville, Florida apartment in April 2016 and that Branden admitted to the following:

• Brian Bell killed Kendrick Johnson
• Branden Bell, Brian Bell and Ryan Hall argued with Kendrick Johnson in the school’s gym
• Brian Bell struck Kendrick Johnson with a dumbbell during a “roid rage”
• Brian Bell threatened Ryan Hall to “keep quiet”
• Former FBI Agent Rick Bell contacted former Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine about the fight
• Prine met with the county coroner
• An unnamed FBI agent altered Lowndes High School surveillance footage
• Kendrick Johnson’s organs were removed to obscure time of death
• Kendrick Johnson’s autopsy records were falsified

The claims line up with previous allegations made by the Johnsons in their civil suits, but most of the claims have already been discredited by hard evidence.

The evidence

A Bell family spokesperson has confirmed to Valdosta Today that Branden Bell was enrolled in classes at Valdosta State University and was living in a Valdosta apartment off-campus during April 2016.

In June, a previously unreleased FBI report confirmed Brian Bell, Branden Bell and, presumably, Ryan Hall, were not near Kendrick Johnson when he was last seen on surveillance footage entering the school’s old gym.

Branden Bell was off campus traveling to a wrestling match in Macon, Ga. when Johnson was last seen on surveillance video.

Video footage shows Kendrick Johnson walked to the gym alone and did not appear to meet with anyone when he arrived.

Analysis of the video footage also explains what appears to be edits or missing footage in the surveillance recordings.

The GBI has maintained Johnson’s organs were returned with his body to the Harrington Funeral Home after the autopsy was completed.

Harrington Funeral Home was also cleared of any wrong-doing when handling Johnson’s body.

A “bogus” arrest?

On August 18, Domek-Hernandez was arrested by the Valdosta Police Department and charged with criminal trespassing.

Shortly after, Jackie Johnson, Kendrick’s mother, took to Facebook to claim Domek-Hernandez was being jailed on “bogus charges” in an effort to suppress his statements.

Incident reports obtained by Valdosta Today tell a different story.

At approximately 5:30 a.m. on August 18, VPD officers were dispatched to a residence near Eager Road in reference to a reported trespassing. A woman reportedly told police she was in her bathroom when Domek-Hernandez came to the bathroom window and punched through the glass in an attempt to enter the home, reports stated.

At approximately 6:05 a.m., a VPD officer at South Georgia Medical Center reportedly witnessed Domek-Hernandez walk through the emergency room entrance without a shirt and with blood on his right hand and a belt wrapped around his right forearm.

Domek-Hernandez reportedly tried to register at the front desk as “John Doe,” but the officer recognized him from previous encounters and was aware of a recent “be on the lookout” call issued because of the trespassing incident.

As the officer began walking toward him, Domek-Hernandez walked out of the lobby. The officer, noting the arm injury, reportedly tried to grab him by his shorts. After a struggle, the officer withdrew a Conducted Energy Weapon but did not use it, reports stated.

The officer guided Domek-Hernandez to a nearby bench and applied pressure to his arm in an attempt to stop the bleeding, but he refused aid and reportedly said he wanted to “just bleed out” and loosened the belt on his arm.

Domek-Hernandez was eventually treated inside the hospital and later charged with trespassing. He was then taken to the Lowndes County Jail and later released on bond.

Domek-Hernandez has had several other run-ins with the law:

• July 13, 2017 arrest for criminal trespass
• September 1, 2016 arrest for possession of marijuana, possession of meth, weaving
• January 20, 2013 arrest for burglary