After George Floyd, people want justice for Kendrick Johnson and Kenneka Jenkins: 'They were no freak accidents'
Widespread protests across the nation are demanding justice for 46-year-old African-American man George Floyd, who was killed by a white Minneapolis police officer. Police officer Derek Chauvin was seen kneeling over Floyd's neck in a video that went viral on social media, and three others who assisted him have been charged with second-degree murder. Floyd's death on May 25 sparked outrage among Americans who took to the streets to protest against police brutality, while also championing 'Black Lives Matter'. Now, people are taking to social media platforms demanding that the deaths of 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson and 19-year-old Kenneka Jenkins be reopened and reinvestigated.
Johnson was found dead at the gymnasium of Lowndes High School in Valdosta on January 11, 2013. His body was rolled up in a school gym mat, standing upside down and despite the evidence, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation ruled his death an 'accident' and theorized that Johnson had fallen into the mat while looking for his shoes and died after not being able to get out. Many students at the school would use the mats in the gymnasium to store their things to avoid paying locker fees, as did Johnson, who was an athlete.
On January 10, the school's video surveillance footage captured him walking into one of the two school gyms to retrieve his sneakers. No one was seen following him and neither did anyone else walk into the gym after him. Johnson was then marked absent in the classes the same day and he didn't return home that afternoon. His mother reported him missing at midnight and went to school the next day to inform the school that he was missing. On the same morning, a few students who were at the gym filling out a survey noticed socks sticking out of one of the mats. Thinking it was some sort of a joke, a student climbed the bleachers to look inside and found Johnson's body. When he failed to pull him out, another student called 911. The students knocked the mat over with the help of a teacher and pulled Johnson out headfirst, but the smell of decomposition, vomit and the presence of blood told them he had been dead for at least a whole day.
The cause of his death was ruled out as 'positional asphyxia' 24 hours after his body was found, and Johnson's parents suspected foul play. They believed their son's death was not being handled seriously because of his race. The evidence recovered from the scene clearly pointed out that there was more to his death than it being an 'accident'. Johnson's family hired a private pathologist to conduct a second autopsy, which revealed that the boy had died from blunt force trauma to the right neck and soft tissues. His parents believed he had been murdered elsewhere and his body had been dumped in the gym. Later, another independent autopsy was ordered after a funeral home stated that they never received Johnson's organs from the coroner. This autopsy found that Johnson's body had been stuffed with newspapers.
Jenkins was found dead inside a latched freezer of the Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois, after attending a party there on September 8, 2017. Her body was found in the hotel kitchen on September 10, lying face down on her side with her clothes inside out and one shoe off. There were no signs of trauma other than a small cut on her foot. The medical examiner concluded in his report that Jenkins' death was accidental, and she had been inebriated, which possibly heighten the effects of hypothermia that she sustained while inside the freezer. Furthermore, unprescribed drugs had been found in her system. The investigation found that the walk-in-freezer that she had been inside was on and working despite being part of an unused kitchen. The lights were apparently off when she entered it, so the unanswered question remains as to why the freezer was suddenly turned on that night. Motion-detecting security cameras captured an intoxicated Jenkins staggering through the hotel hallways and arriving at the kitchen, where she rounded a corner towards the freezer. The police said they didn't suspect any foul play. However, Jenkin's friend's account of what happened after the party was inconsistent.
Social media users took to Twitter demanding that the deaths of both Johnson and Jenkins be revisited by the authorities. They claim that the deaths were investigated poorly and concluded as accidents because of their race. They added that had it been a white person, the police would have done a more thorough job. "Since we’re reopening cases can we reopen the case of Kendrick Johnson??? We all know that boy didn’t kill himself in a gym mat," said one user. Another one tweeted, "Let me tell you, this case right here always gets to me, it makes no sense! Kendrick Johnson deserves justice REAL justice." Another said, "I remember when they found a DEAD BLACK TEENAGER wrapped up in a wrestling mat inside the school gym, upside down, and with some organs MISSING and then they had the nerve to rule it a suicide.... a f*****g suicide!!!! His name was Kendrick Johnson and he was only 17 years old." Another user seeking justice for the two teenagers said, "During this time, can we PLEASE use our power to REOPEN Kendrick Johnson’s and Kenneka Jenkins murder cases? They were wrongfully closed, these were no freak accidents. They need justice." Another tweeted, "Since we're reopening cases, when will justice be served for the Death of 19-year-old KENNEKA JENKINS and ESPECIALLY whoever was responsible for this b******t a** medical report!!"