A teen athlete's shocking death - MURDER IN A HIGH SCHOOL GYM?

KENDRICK JOHNSON’S BODY WAS FOUND IN A ROLLED-UP WRESTLING MAT. AUTHORITIES CALLED IT AN ACCIDENT, HIS FAMILY CALLED IT MURDER. NOW A NEW INVESTIGATION AIMS TO UNCOVER THE TRUTH

Around Valdosta, Georgia, everyone knew Kendrick Johnson for his love of sports. The 17-year-old Lowndes High School student played basketball and football – and often stayed after school to shoot hoops in the gym or run on the track to boost his stamina. So when Kendrick didn’t arrive home after his school day on January 10, 2013, his mum, Jacquelyn, wasn’t too worried at first. He hadn’t cleared it with her, but she thought maybe he’d told his father, Kenneth, about his plans. When she discovered Kendrick hadn’t been in contact with his dad either, though, the panicked parents filed a missing-persons report. And the next morning Jacquelyn headed to the high school to alert staff her son was missing.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

Kendrick Johnson (in his Vikings basketball uniform) was found dead inside the Lowndes High School gym on Jan. 11, 2013. “It feels like yesterday,” says his mum.

“The counsellor hadn’t heard,” Jacquelyn recalls. “But then her phone rang. A voice was telling her they just found a body in the gym … I’m breaking into pieces because I know it’s my child.”

PARENTS’ PAIN

“Someone is going to come forward,” says Jacquelyn Johnson (with husband Kenneth, right, and their former lawyer Ben Crump, left, at a 2013 rally).