Police confirm alibi of Valdosta wrestler linked to gym mat death

Responding to accusations by the parents of a Valdosta high school student who allege local law enforcement conspired to protect their son’s killers, Lowndes County sheriff’s deputies on Tuesday released a report confirming the alibi of the older of two brothers still being investigated by federal prosecutors.

The brothers, whose names are being withheld because they were juveniles at the time, received letters from the U.S. Attorney’s Office informing them they were “target(s) of the grand jury’s investigation” into the death of Kendrick Johnson, whose body was found on Jan. 11, 2013, inside a rolled-up gym mat. State and local law enforcement had concluded the 17-year-old’s death was accidental, ruling out any involvement by the two brothers, whose names had surfaced due to a 2011 scuffle between Johnson and the youngest sibling.

A federal probe of the investigation into Johnson’s death was subsequently launched.

Last month, one of the attorneys representing Johnson’s parents produced a copy of a bus reservation that listed a 4 p.m. departure time for a wrestling tournament in which the older brother was competing — roughly three hours after Johnson was last seen alive.

“We were told they were not on campus when our child disappeared,” said Chevene King, reading a statement from Johnson’s parents, who believe their son was killed. King urged parents of wrestling team members to ask their children “the questions police did not.”

The sheriff’s report includes interviews with the Lowndes High wrestling coach, the bus driver and several teammates who insist they left Valdosta around lunchtime.

Wrestling coach Spencer Graybeal told Lowndes Sheriff’s Lt. Stryde Jones the form was submitted three months before the tournament with an estimated departure time. The request was later amended, Graybeal said, when he learned the wrestlers were due in Macon — 152 miles away — at 4 p.m. for weigh-ins. The coach told Jones the team departed school grounds no later than 12:30 p.m. — a little less than an hour before Johnson was last seen on school surveillance tapes.