Johnson’s parents, Kenneth and Jacquelyn Johnson, said they never believed investigators’ conclusion that their 17-year-old son died while struggling to reach for a shoe at the center of the mat. They believe their son was murdered.
Months after an autopsy conducted by the state medical examiner supported the local investigators’ conclusion, Johnson’s parents hired a pathologist, who said he found evidence of unexplained, nonaccidental blunt force trauma to Johnson’s neck.
In June 2013, attorneys representing Kenneth and Jacquelyn Johnson sued the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office to get access to the department’s full investigative file and a copy of school surveillance video recorded around the time Johnson disappeared. According to the lawsuit, the department’s refusal to release the file was a violation of Georgia’s Open Records Law.
–
“Georgia is a big state. I think Atlanta is one of the major cities in America and I’m sure there are a lot of judges for them to choose from, not only in Atlanta but throughout the state of Georgia. The hope is that you will find a judge who is as fair and impartial,” Crump said.
CNN’s Johnita Due and Devon M. Sayers contributed to this report.
