Parents sue Georgia school system in gym mat death
By The Associated Press
Posted 11:11AM on Tuesday, July 29, 2014
VALDOSTA, Ga. (AP) The parents of a south Georgia teenager found dead inside a rolled-up gym mat at school have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against school administrators. <br />
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The parents of 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson of Valdosta sued Monday in Superior Court. Their lawsuit blames the Lowndes County school board for allowing Johnson to die ``at the hands of one or more students'' while at his high school during school hours. <br />
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Classmates found Johnson's body inside a rolled-up mat propped in a corner of the gym Jan. 11, 2013. <br />
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Sheriff's investigators concluded that he died in a freak accident, having fallen into the mat and gotten stuck upside down. <br />
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Johnson's parents insist that someone killed him. <br />
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The school board's attorney, Warren Turner, did not immediately return a call Tuesday from The Associated Press.