The family of Kendrick Johnson is still trying to find answers regarding their son’s puzzling death.
If you recall, Kendrick Johnson was found dead in a rolled up gym mat last year in his Valdosta, Georgia high school gymnasium. His family is now suing the funeral home for stuffing the 17-year-old’s body with newspaper.
According to the AP, the family filed a complaint last year after discovering that Johnson’s internal organs were replaced without their consent. His family is suing Harrington Funeral Home for fraud, negligence and intentional mishandling of a corpse.
The 22-page lawsuit says the funeral home committed “morally despicable, fraudulent, unlawful and unfair business practices” and even accuses owner Antonio Harrington and his employees of disposing of Johnson’s organs “in an effort to interfere with the (parents’) investigation” into their son’s death.
It’s still unclear what happened to Johnson’s organs.
They were removed during an autopsy by a state medical examiner after his death, but the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has insisted all organs were returned to the body before it was sent to the funeral home. Copeland has previously said the organs were missing when Johnson’s body arrived at Harrington Funeral Home. And Lowndes County Coroner Bill Watson has said many of the organs were too badly decomposed to be preserved and were discarded immediately after the autopsy.
Last year, the family filed a complaint with the funeral home about their actions. The Georgia Board of Funeral Service sided with the funeral home, claiming that although it wasn’t the best practice, they didn’t violate any state laws.
Kendrick’s family is still patiently waiting for answers in the overall investigation.
The state medical examiner’s autopsy concluded Johnson died from “positional asphyxia,” meaning his body was stuck in a position that prevented him from breathing. The private pathologist hired by Johnson’s family concluded he died from a blow to the neck near his carotid artery that appeared to be “nonaccidental.”
Michael Moore, the U.S. attorney for middle Georgia, launched a review of the case last fall with assistance from the FBI. Their findings are still pending.
SOURCE: AP | VIDEO CREDIT: News Inc.
