Earlier today, a Georgia state judge ordered the release of surveillance footage taken by deputies who investigated the January death of Kendrick Johnson. Back in January, Kendrick was found dead in a rolled-up gym mat at Lowndes County High School in Valdosta. While authorities initially ruled his death an accident, Kendrick's parents think he was murdered, and hope the video will provide enough to get investigators to reopen the case.
"We are happy to hear we are one step closer to the truth," Kendrick Johnson's father, Kenneth Johnson said after the hearing.
A state medical examiner ruled Kendrick, a high school athlete, suffocated after getting stuck in the gym mat. His parents -- who believe he was murdered -- disputed the findings and won a court order to have their son's body exhumed for another autopsy.
The materials to be released by the judge -- photographs from inside the gym at Lowndes County High School, surveillance video from outside and investigative documents -- are unlikely to prove what happened to the boy, attorney Chevene King said.
None of the imagery is believed to show whatever happened that led to Kendrick's death, King said.
But the materials could cast doubt the official explanation and nudge officials towards reclassifying Kendrick's death to allow a new investigation into what happened, King said.
What's already known, though, is enough to raise serious questions. While the official autopsy found that Kendrick had suffocated, the independent autopsy conducted on his family's behalf found
he'd died from being struck in the neck--which is consistent with what EMTs found when they first examined Kendrick's body, but not mentioned in the state examiner's report. Additionally, the scene was an absolute bloodbath. When CNN showed previously released video and about 700 pictures to former FBI agent Harold Copus,
he concluded that Kendrick was murdered. To add insult to injury, the pathologist who conducted the second autopsy found that
several organs had been removed prior to Kendrick's burial, and the cavities stuffed with newspaper.
The video at issue in today's haring showed other students were in the gym around the time Kendrick died. Lowndes County officials claimed that state law required them to withhold the video to protect their privacy, since the video was potentially the equivalent of "education records of a minor child." Good thing the judge saw it differently. Given evidence that strongly suggests Kendrick was beaten to death, that defense doesn't wash.