Photo courtesy of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A Georgia sheriff who recently closed the case involving 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson, who was found dead in 2013 in a rolled-up gym mat, is offering $500,000 of his own money as a reward for any new information regarding the teen’s untimely death.
As News Onyx previously reported, Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk, 76, ruled Johnson’s death as a “weird accident,” and no charges would be filed.
Johnson was captured on security footage entering the gymnasium at Lowndes High School on January 10, 2013, in Valdosta, Ga. The following day, his body was found by a teacher, and local authorities deemed his death an accident. However, the teen’s parents believe he was murdered by three boys, Branden Bell, his brother, Brian, and another friend, who are all white.
While Paulk verified the teenager’s whereabouts, Johnson’s family said someone could have tampered with the evidence. As a result, the case was reopened in 2020 and closed after the sheriff declared the teen’s death as a “weird accident.”
On Monday, Paulk released a statement after Johnson’s family expressed their distrust in how he handled the case.
“After the release of my synopsis of the Federal files on the Kendrick Johnson case, his parents have called me a liar and continue to state that Kendrick was murdered,” Paulk said.
He continued, “Because of these statements, I am personally — with my own funds — offering a reward of one-half million dollars ($500,000.00) to anyone who comes forward with information that results in the arrest and conviction of a person for the alleged murder of Kendrick Johnson at Lowndes High School.”
“The Lowndes County sheriff said the half-a-million-dollar reward is “one last avenue” for the sheriff’s office to receive any new information they may have missed, NBC News reported.
“I’m willing to put up those funds to see if anybody comes forward with anything viable that might have been missed,” Paulk told NBC News on Tuesday.
“I don’t really feel like there’s anybody out there with knowledge, and from what I’ve seen — I studied all the camera angles and everything else — it was a tragic accident. But if somebody comes in with a different view, we’re going to listen to them certainly.”
“I’ve looked at everything I can look at. If there’s something else that somebody knows and doesn’t feel like we looked at or studied, come sit down with us,” the sheriff said.
Since announcing the reward, Paulk said he hadn’t received any leads on the case.