Today is national signing day for college football scholarships. It is a big day for a select group of young men who live in the state of Georgia.
Valdosta, Georgia is a small city with a population of roughly 54,000 people down in the heart of south Georgia farming country.
Valdosta is located only about 35 miles from Tallahassee, Florida, the home of Florida State University. It so happens that I personally know the city of Valdosta fairly well.
My wife was a cheerleader at Valdosta high school.We still have family who live down there, including our daughter and grandchildren.
Compared with metropolitan Atlanta, the crime rate in Valdosta is fairly low, and violent crime even more so. It may not be paradise, but it isn’t a bad place to grow up.
Valdosta is more or less known for two things: farming, and high school football.
For a very long time, Valdosta has had a reputation for developing high school football talent, and Valdosta High School was a football powerhouse, claiming an incredible 23 state championship titles in their program’s history that dates all the way back to 1913.
In more recent years, the balance of power shifted more to arch-rival Lowndes County High School. The Vikings football program didn’t exist prior to 1966. yet they have won 5 state championships of their own.
Georgia Bulldog fans will remember Buck Belue, quarterback of the 1980 national championship team, played high school football for the Wildcats.
More recently, Jay Rome and Malcolm Mitchell came to Athens by way of Valdosta.
James Eunice
Another young man named James Eunice had been accepted into the football program as a preferred walk-on, but tragically he drowned in an boating accident before ever getting the opportunity to play in Sanford stadium.
But on January 11, 2013, Valdosta became famous for a much uglier reason — the bizarre, mysterious death of Kendrick Johnson.
Members of Johnson’s family now allege that his death was murder. They have hinted of a conspiracy with racially-charged overtones. The body was found in a rolled-up gym mat, but they rejected the coroner’s ruling that the cause of death was accidental suffocation.
Let me stop here for a moment to express my sympathy for Johnson’s parents.
Their son is dead. I am truly sorry for their loss. But what they are trying to do to avenge their son’s death just isn’t right.
Kendrick Johnson was a healthy young man, in the prime of his life. He shouldn’t be dead. It doesn’t seem fair. It doesn’t seem to make any sense in the big scheme of things.
But nobody ever claimed that life is supposed to be fair.
James Eunice shouldn’t be dead, either. He was too young to die. Neither loss is any more or less tragic than the other.
Accidents happen. We just seem to understand them better when cars and alcohol are involved.
No one disputes that James Eunice died in an accident. However, Kendrick Johnson’s parents want someone to blame and hold accountable.
They have even decided who should suffer for their son’s death, engaging in a vicious social media campaign to punish the people they believe are responsible — but not in a court of law. They seek justice in the court of public opinion.
They also want money in compensation for the loss of their son.
Now please let me express my sympathy for Brian Bell.
Brian Bell
Brian Bell is a high school athlete with notable talent, a football player. But at one point in time, he and his brother had been publicly identified as targets of a grand jury investigation into Kendrick Johnson’s death.
That was all Johnson’s family needed to believe Bell was guilty of their son’s murder and go on offense. It apparently doesn’t matter to them that Bell has been completely exonerated by multiple statements from independent witnesses, who verified beyond any reasonable doubt that he was competing at a state wrestling tournament and not even in Valdosta at the time of their son’s death.
In the absence of evidence that an almost incomprehensible conspiracy of epic proportion has been devised and executed for no apparent reason other than to help a guilty young man escape justice for his crime, we ought to be able to safely assume that Brian Bell is completely innocent in regard to the death of Kendrick Johnson, and could not possibly have committed his murder.
After all, unless that young man has secretly invented a means of teleportation and withheld it from the world, it is physically impossible for him to have caused the death of Kendrick Johnson and wrestled in the tournament, because the two events took place several hundred miles apart.
Yet one of the lawyers representing Johnson’s family produced travel reservations and suggested Bell didn’t leave Valdosta until 4 p.m., in spite of the fact multiple witnesses have sworn that Bell was with them when the team left town at noon. This one particular attorney, Chevene King, apparently has a bit of a reputation for misrepresenting facts to the media.
However, local NAACP representatives investigated and found no evidence to support the accusations about Bell or this ludicrous conspiracy theory coming from Johnson’s family.
Perhaps their failure to accept the official cause of death is related to the lawsuit for $100 million dollars the Johnson family filed against Bell and some 27 co-defendants, but that is speculation on my part. Johnson’s parents clearly don’t seem to be seeking justice.
They’re seeking a lot of money from an innocent kid who’s just graduating high school.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has investigated the case. The agency would have to be collaborating in this fantastic conspiracy that no one believes, except for Johnson’s family and their attorneys. Even the federal authorities have investigated.
But Benjamin Crump, the same lawyer who represented the Trayvon Martin family, has gotten involved in the case.
In other words, this story won’t be going away until the lawsuit has been adjudicated.
Now you may be wondering…how does the tragic story of Kendrick Johnson tie in with national signing day?
Well, morning the media reported on the eve of signing day that Brian Bell’s scholarship offer to play football at Florida State University will most likely be withdrawn due to pressure put on the school by Johnson’s family.
The irony that Florida State, of all schools, now apparently won’t honor their scholarship offer to Bell is priceless. The university police, the school itself, and even the Tallahassee police routinely turn a blind eye to egregious behavior from their student athletes, most notably star quarterback Jameis Winston. The irony of this story would be hilarious, if an innocent young man wasn’t about to suffer terrible consequences for an apparently non-existent crime that he could not possibly have committed. Perhaps Bell”s innocence was a deterrent for Florida State, and he wasn’t controversial enough for them.
More than likely, though, Florida State saw him as a “three star” athlete with limited potential, and that made the young man expendable.
Screw the human being. He didn’t play a skill position.
Dear John,
Either you haven’t done your homework or you have some personal interest in helping
cover up this murder. Unless you’re just a complete moron you have to give some credence
to the very suspicious happenings surrounding the videos, the two autopsy’s, the fact that
the Bell brothers refuse to speak to investigators, the missing body parts, the police incompetence
in gathering the physical evidence and all the other elements involved. This is a real mystery
and that’s why the government is investigating. It took the Police 3 month to close the case, Why
is it that the Federal Government has already taken 16 months, If nothing was wrong they would
have closed their investigation long ago. Nice try, Jimmy B.
John is 100% accurate. This case is so far out there I am absolutely convinced the charges will be dismissed and the case will never proceed to trial. No evidence other than bad legal advice and bad legal representation. The attorney’s should be ashamed for leading this family on and allowing this to proceed. I would be curious to know what the Johnson’s cost of legal representation is, ie, 50% of the settlement? There will never be a settlement. They should have focused on the funeral home and the “missing organs” dispute and any liability the school district might have due to the fact that this accidental death occurred inside the school. Now, on the other hand, the Bell family will clearly win their 2 cases, the first against Ebony for libel and slander, the second against the facebook/twitter/social media posts concerning same. Case closed. Yours Truly, Edward Chavez, Esq.
Murder is murder no matter who or how it was committed, but in the eyes of the law you are innocent until proven guilty, so they back their ties hoping there are no lose ends. Corruption runs deep and the political ties are so penetrated it is worse than silence of the Lamb! There is rarily equality in lady justice when it comes to avenging a young Black man`s wrongful death. So, it is still a man`s world, but, it would be nothing without a women or a girl. Kendrick went to school not to a WWW
Match!
R. McGhee,
Repeating false accusations will never make them true.
If you believe this was murder, you are willfully ignoring the actual facts of the case, or pretending to be ignorant. But then again, when reading bizarre comments that contain incomprehensible references to the movie “Silence of the Lambs” in connection to this case, my expectations diminished rapidly, and quickly.
There is no crime to “avenge.” You seem to be on the verge of fomenting racial tensions or perhaps even racially motivated violence in retaliation for a crime that only exists in YOUR mind.
I only know about Kendrick Johnson what I have read in the media. The racism that was rampant in the past — the murder of Emmett Till, etc. are THE PAST. It’s a shame and a tragedy that KJ died, but it wasn’t a CRIME.
I almost rejected your comment but decided to respond instead. However, this isn’t a courtroom, and the facts are not open for reinterpretation prior to new debate. The facts have been established.
BRIAN BELL WAS NOT IN VALDOSTA AT THE TIME OF KENDRICK JOHNSON’S DEATH.
Let me repeat that. BRIAN BELL WAS NOT IN VALDOSTA AT THE TIME OF KENDRICK JOHNSON’S DEATH.
If you want to accuse someone of murder in the death of Kendrick Johnson, you’re going to need a new suspect. The younger brother was seen in class, with video evidence, at the same time Johnson was seen going into the gym. The ONLY reason you have any justification for claiming foul play is the medical examiner paid by the family conveniently discovered evidence that the death was caused by a heart attack induced by a blow to the back of the neck — so do you suspect Jackie Chan of karate chopping a 17 year old kid in the back of the neck and hiding his body in rolled up gym mats, or Bruce Lee?
Please be more specific with your baseless allegations…where is your evidence of corruption? For that matter, where is Jesse? Where’s Al Sharpton? If those two race agitators don’t want a piece of the action down there in this case, it must be because there IS NO CASE.
Bruce Lee has been dead for four decades, but that shouldn’t rule him out as a suspect in your mind, if you think Brian Bell could be in Macon and Valdosta simultaneously.
And for the record, wrestling is fake. The only way KJ could have gotten hurt at a WWW match would have been the same way it happened at school — BY ACCIDENT.
Do you know the time of Kendrick Johnson’s death? Allegations are KJ was murdered to keep his mouth shut about STEROIDS!!! There is a major story behind the reason!!!
Who is making these allegations? This is the first I’ve read anywhere of someone suggesting illegal drugs were involved. Do you have any information that hasn’t been made public?
If you tell me a story that I can subsequently corroborate, I’ll publish it and blow the lid off this so-called conspiracy. Otherwise, this is nothing more than BS to make an accident look like a crime.
I’d rather keep the fiction in my novels, if you don’t mind.
Inquiring minds really wanna know! Ask the Bells, the principle, the coach and Caroline Prine! Who crawls up in a mat during a busy school day and no one I mean no one hears them screaming for help? Deception is the rule when you want to make your crime story believable! I choose the allegation of not wanting the Robot athletes exposed!
Phoebe Chapman teacher investgated! Find out why
John, you truly believe he wasn’t murdered?
Why did the family not receive his clothes that he was wearing? How come a specialist speaking on the news said the video footage has been tampered with? How come his organs were gone and newspaper in his body instead?
This wasn’t an accident. And I hope whoever is covering this up gets sent to prison
I am curious do you only accept the comments that you think are worthy to be read. And comments that dog you, you erase them?
Obviously, you aren’t really paying attention to what goes on at my website — comments critical of my work are routinely published. In fact, most of the comments posted in response to this article have been critical.
However, comments that make blatantly false accusations are not welcome here and will not be published, period. For example, accusing me of colluding with people I’ve never met to cover up a murder that didn’t happen will be deleted when someone attempts to post them here. I would call your attention to the comment left by Johnathan Kendall, which obviously does not agree with my point of view, but was allowed because it wasn’t abusive.
Your critical comment only accused me of doing something I’m actually doing — screening trash from my website. If you want a public forum to air your own views, I suggest you get your own website, because my website will not be your forum to spread hatred and lies.
Yes, I truly believe he wasn’t murdered, Jonathan. There is no evidence to support an accusation against anyone, and especially not against Brian Bell or his brother.
You seem bias.
Forgot to mention Brian Bell had previously been in a fight with Johnson. Brandon Bell allegedly threatened it wasn’t over.
Oh and their father is an FBI agent.
And government agents just executed search warrants at the Bell home taking evidence AND Brian Bell’s dorm to take his phone.
Also forgot to mention the cause of death was changed from positional asphyxia to blunt force trauma. It’s also very unlikely someone would (or if latge enough could) crawl into the opening of one of these gym mats. They are like 15 feet wide with a very small opening. I doubt he was that dumb as to crawl into something you couldnt tip head first.
When will you people realize that I only allow your silly comments to be approved so that I can ridicule them? The official cause of death was most certainly NOT changed by the coroner. That is a blatantly false statement, and I do wish to correct the record in the minds of you conspiracy theorists. The only “medical examiner” who claimed blunt force trauma as the cause of death was the one the Johnson family hired (and needed) for their bogus $100 million dollar lawsuit against practically everyone in Lowndes County.
I am strongly biased toward the truth. If there was ANY evidence that Brandon or Brian Bell had done anything, I would be writing a different story. You are trying to smear the reputation of a young man who has been completely exonerated by criminal investigation because a) he’s white, and Kendrick Johnson was black, so you want it to be a racial issue, b) they once briefly scuffled on a bus when both played football, and c) the young man’s father happens to be an FBI agent — who spent much of his career investigating and prosecuting hate crimes against black churches.
If you want to see blind hatred and racial bias, look in the mirror.
I would never suggest that Kendrick Johnson was dumb. We all make mistakes without thinking about them. Sadly, he apparently made a mistake that cost his life.
What makes me even more sad than the tragic death of this young man is people like you, trying to exploit it to foment racial tensions, which I personally find quite despicable behavior.
Or perhaps it’s an indication of mental health issues.
I have been following this story closely for the last few days and more recently since the news broke of federal agents raiding the homes of the Bell’s and their son,Brian, The rumors that are being spouted are very compelling and interesting to read and to the ones who fail to look at the facts of the entire case, can be easily roped into believing this was a murder.
I too have many close affiliations to individuals that live in the Valdosta and Lowndes county area and I too have read the accusations against the Bell Family. Not that my opinion matters or has any bearing on the outcome, I too believe this young man is innocent of the accusations. As far as the additional autopsy that was conducted by private entity by the Johnson’s, I have read where this same guy used the same finding in other deaths down in Florida. Matter of fact, I read in medical posts that blunt force trauma is a highly used reason in the cases where accidental death was the cause. I found this article on the subject very interesting to read.
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1680107-overview
The fact that this young man was in Macon Georgia at the time of the death most assuredly confirms he could not have murdered Johnson. If he has somehow managed to invent the machine used to ‘BEAM UP SCOTTY” and teleport, then I don’t think he needs to worry about going to college. He just wrote his own paycheck by inventing that. This of course is crazy talk and no such invention is on the market. Not to my knowledge anyway. I too feel deeply saddened by all of this and grieve for both families. I cant imagine what they feel. However the Johnson’s going after someone just because they think they done this is in itself just a horrible act. This young man’s life will be clouded forever because of the accusations that were made against him. The young man that died will never come back to hug his mother and father. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
I have witnessed on several accounts police persuading an innocent teen to confess to something they didn’t do which is why I respect their choice. They also have proof they were not near Kendrick Johnson when they died. People can never accept something for what it is, it always has to be a good damn conspiracy or cover up. Kendrick Johnson was a regular kid not no damn secret agent, that needed rid of. I feel it’s highly unfair despite that there is exactly no evidence that these boys did anything yet people want to ruin 2 more lives because that’s three face people put to this murder. I hope they sue the hell out of someone and get money, because they ruined two innocent boys lives.
Anyone who can’t see that this was murder that was covered up is truly sick. If it were you’re son or daughter you would seek justice too you would not accept a bullshit excuse that they fell inside of a Gym mat for a shoe that ended up not being their own.. still don’t sound fishy? Then a gray jacket close to the scene with blood on the arms wasn’t tested or followed up by detectives to check for a lontentisl eye witness? What about the gym camera recordings not making sense? No way in hell the school didn’t see what happened. Whoever did this I pray their soul never rest. Obviously you’re a racist if it was your white daughter or son perhaps you would want a real explanation if someone murdered them. Stop writing poison you’re worse than the killers!
I believe you’re truly sick, if you call yourself “God’s child” and spew hate and venom as you have in your comment. If you’re accusing one of the Bell brothers, you’re also a moron.
Who was President when this happened? Barack Obama, the man who tried to make Trayvon Martin’s death into a crime when the law said it was self defense. He didn’t come near the Johnson case, except to put a corrupt US attorney in charge who continued investigating a case against the Bells after even the NAACP accepted the findings of multiple criminal investigations.
Shame on you. You’re no child of God. And you’re the racist.
I honestly just find it all sad but looking at the pictures I have to ask how did he get beat up if it was a accident. I am both white and black so I try to look at anything before calling it a hate crime but the truth is copswhite cops do kill blackids and people and get anyway with it. If black cops did what white cops do it would be a different story and only somebody truly ignorant or races with disagree with that. Black men and women get beat and killed by white cops all the time but do you ever hear about them cops doing jail time. So yes I do believe that this young black man could have been murder and people covered it up to protect someone theywanted to protector what ever reason. The only truth I feel like I’ve read is that no matter what he isn’t coming back. I hated that you can’t understand why his family wants answers You must not have children of your own to be so biased against the family that wants answers about their child’s death because as a parent I can tell you I will not stop trying everything surrounding my son’s death and yes I will accuse everybody who I thought was guilty I don’t care how much money they have with their father did or what you’re telling me if I think you killed my child yet I’m going to accuse you not going to accuse you loudly I feel like you killed my child. May KJ rest in peace andmau his family family find the closure they need.
Your comment is so factually inaccurate that I had to think about whether or not to approve it, but I decided to respond instead of censoring your opinion. Please, research the statistics. You are parroting incorrect information and helping put the lives of police officers AND young black men in danger. By convincing the young men that trigger-happy police are looking for the opportunity to murder them you’re creating fear and paranoia that increases the probability that someone will get hurt.
The fact that you haven’t done your research is made painfully obvious by the sentence “You must not have children of your own…” This tells me that your entire comment is an emotional rant, not a thoughtful comment worthy of reply. The only reason your comment is being allowed is so that I can turn this into a teachable moment. All you had to do was read my biography page to know that I am a father and a grandfather. As it happens, my oldest grandchild’s father died before she was born. We mourned his loss. What we did not do was find a scapegoat to accuse and persecute. Brian Bell did not murder Kendrick Johnson, but even so, people like you caused Florida State to rescind his scholarship offer. He got punished for a crime he didn’t commit. A crime that was really just a tragic accident that people are now trying to exploit. Shame on you.
I am not accusing anyone, I wasn’t there. I have limited knowledge regarding the death. I am also not pointing fingers.
I would like to ask some questions though.
If Kendrick Johnson was found head first, vertically in the “center” of the gym mat, at what point/how do you think he sustained his injuries?
Why would someone attempt to retrieve a shoe from a rolled up matt going head first without being sure how they could get out? – I think I would either have someone with me to help (like a gym teacher) or just pull out the mats altogether.
Those mats are usually well rolled up so there must have been a huge amount of room for him to get initially down to then get stuck?
We know that autopsy results can falsified as well as incorrectly recorded due to human error. We have recently seen this with George Floyd. Biopsies and test results are subject to the same mistreatment and this happens more frequently for the living. Why isn’t it reasonable that the cause of death in the first autopsy has been recorded incorrectly?
Don’t his injuries match those such a blunt force trauma as a pose to slicing by gym mat?
Of course accidents happen, but it is important to establish the facts. If we don’t understand what has happened, how do we prevent it from happening to anyone else?
From his parents and friends points of view, it would be quite difficult to truly put this to rest without being reasonably satisfied by the facts. Have you noticed that when a child/person goes missing that the parents/friends/associates cannot have peace until they have reached a level of satisfaction?-Even when the answers brings an undesirable outcome?
Just curious to know what you think.
Thank you for the civil tone of your question(s).
The first autopsy recorded no evidence of any injuries of which I’m aware. The second autopsy referred to a single blow to the back of the neck or head, I forget which, but none of the autopsies performed indicated that Johnson had been beaten or struck multiple times, if he was struck at all.
Why he chose to go for the shoe in that fashion? He was a teenager. They don’t always think before they act. I don’t understand how no one could have heard him call for help, but I don’t know the layout and logistics of the gym. The whole point is, only two kids were ever identified as even potential suspects for a murder accusation, and the evidence clearly exonerated both of them. I agree with you–human error is always a possibility. However, to believe that the Bell brothers murdered Kendrick Johnson and then through a tragic comedy of errors and malfeasance managed to escape justice, you’d have to believe in vast conspiracies involving disinterested parties for the sole purpose of hiding a murder, and I personally find that very difficult to believe.
Don’t understand the next question about slicing by gym mat, so I’m sorry but I’m going to skip trying to answer it.
I cannot imagine the grief suffered by Kendall Johnson’s parents. The closest I can come is to remember when the father of my oldest grandchild died suddenly and tragically without warning, under a cloud of mystery. The coroner ruled his death a suicide, but I still don’t believe it. On the other hand, I would never accuse anyone of murdering him. However, my sympathies for his parents are mitigated by their relentless pursuit and false accusations against innocent boys, mostly based on high school rumors and not supported by any forensic evidence whatsoever. It was arguably criminal to blame and persecute the Bells.
If there had been a snowball’s chance in hell either brother could have been involved with Kendrick’s death, I would not feel the same way. Evidence cleared them, but that didn’t stop the US Attorney Michael Moore or the Johnsons. Moore was trying to make a reputation for himself via a BS prosecution. The Johnsons tried to leverage that with a lawsuit. I understand wanting answers. I can even understand not wanting to believe them…one of the five stages of grief is denial.
But I cannot excuse going after exonerated children for some perverse racially-motivated revenge. The Bells were investigated by everybody–local, state, and feds. Even the local NAACP leader and other civil rights activists looked at the evidence and said there was no “there” there.
There comes a time to let it go. That time passed several years ago. What I think is that people are looking for any and every excuse to stoke racial tensions to get worse than they already are, if that’s possible. It’s a very, very bad idea. That’s what I think.
I will add this–I’ve learned more of the story since I wrote this article, which was published at American Thinker.
You can find what I wrote here at this link:
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/05/barack_obamas_department_of_injustice.html
This kid was a bully on steroids who went around beating up other male classmates for some sort of feeling of superiority. This case will be solved and I hope you re-evaluate the blinders you choose to wear. Lastly, you owe the Johnson’s an apology for allowing your opinion to re-victimize them.
Which kid? The one who was not even in Valdosta at the time of Johnson’s death, or the one tracked on camera throughout the day and was known to have never gone anywhere near the site of the tragedy? I don’t wear blinders; I do research and report on what I’ve learned. There is no case to solve because there was no crime committed. It was a tragic accident. Nothing more. The local NCAA representative got involved early and stepped back, siding with the truth over the racially motivated lies that claim a brilliant, nefarious murder was committed by a teenager who left behind no evidence of a crime.
The only real victims in this sordid affair were the Bell family. They have been falsely accused and maliciously smeared, ultimately driven from the community by people much like you, filled with hatred and a blind rage based on skin color.
Shame on you.