A horrific twist in the death of a 17-year-old in Georgia.

"They stuffed him with newspaper like he was a garbage can inside his body. It's unbelievable." (Via CNN)

Kendrick Johnson was found dead in a gym back in January. According to medical examiners, he accidentally suffocated after getting stuck in a rolled-up gym mat. (Via WSB-TV)

But his parents had doubts about the way their son had died. They won a court order to have Kendrick's body exhumed and have an independent second autopsy performed on the body. (Via KRNV)

>> Read more trending stories

When a private pathologist opened the teen’s remains, he discovered new grisly details.

"The parents had their son's body exhumed only to learn he suffered a blow to the neck, and all of his organs were missing." (Via WIS-TV)

"Dr. Bill Anderson said when he opened Johnson's body, it was stuffed full of newspapers." (Via WXIA)

In a standard autopsy, the organs are removed, examined, then returned to the body for burial. It’s unclear what happened to Kendrick’s organs after the first autopsy, and his parents have been left devastated once again.

"We have been let down again." (Via CNN)

The funeral home that prepared Kendrick's body for burial reportedly wrote a letter to the Johnsons' attorney that said the organs "were destroyed through natural process" and were "discarded by the prosecutor." (Via WGHP)

The doctor who performed that second autopsy is now challenging the state autopsy finding. He believes the teen died as the result of “unexplained, apparent non-accidental, blunt force trauma.” Federal prosecutors are reportedly deciding whether to open their own probe into the case, which has been closed since earlier this year.

See more at Newsy.com

About the Author

Keep Reading

Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth, among others, will no longer be considered fee-free days at U.S. National Parks. While the MLK National Historic Park in Atlanta doesn't charge admission, the new schedule will affect such metro Atlanta sites as Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Featured

Former Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman talks to her daughter, Wandrea ArShaye "Shaye" Moss, a former Georgia election worker, after she testified before the U.S. House Select Committee at its fourth hearing on its Jan. 6 investigation on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS)

Credit: TNS