An anonymous email claiming to have information about “what really happened to Kendrick Johnson” has been dismissed as nothing more than schoolyard gossip, investigators told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday.
The email, sent in late January to the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department, alleges Johnson was killed by a former friend and classmate at Lowndes High School. Lowndes Sheriff’s Lt. Stryde Jones said investigators interviewed the email’s author earlier this week, along with other students referenced in her missive.
“None of the information (in the email) is credible,” Jones said.
Officials ruled Johnson’s death an accident last March, saying the 17-year-old suffocated after he became trapped in an athletic mat — stacked in the school’s old gymnasium — while reaching for a tennis shoe. Johnson’s parents insist he was murdered and allege a cover-up.
Though never publicly named, the 16-year-old classmate referenced in the email — as well as his older brother, now in college — has been repeatedly linked to Johnson’s death by supporters of the family and even their attorneys. Last November, Ebony magazine strongly hinted at their involvement without mentioning their alibis, which had been confirmed by law enforcement months earlier.
The brothers have since received a torrent of menacing tweets and Facebook posts, and their mother said she fears a new wave of threats will follow today’s news.
The AJC is not identifying the brothers or any of the other minors mentioned in the email.
Jones said the girl who sent the email will likely not face any criminal charges.
“There was no malicious intent in the email,” he said. “She had heard rumors over and over and felt the need to report it.”
Benjamin Crump, lawyer for the Johnsons, did not respond to a request seeking comment on the latest developments.
Meanwhile, Jones said the sheriff’s office has shared their findings with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which opened its own investigation into Johnson’s death last fall. Several students and their parents have since been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury.
The mother of the teenagers named in the email said her sons have been subpoenaed but will not testify.
“We’re not going to participate in this circus,” she said, adding there is “zero evidence” linking them to Johnson’s death.
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