Jackson — An independent pathologist hired to investigate the death of a high school football star couldn’t determine if the shotgun blast was self-inflicted because portions of the boy’s head had been removed, the family’s attorney said Tuesday.
Billey Joe Johnson Jr. apparently died of a gunshot wound to the head after being pulled over for traffic violations Dec. 8 in George County in south Mississippi. Authorities say the 17-year-old junior was wanted for an attempted burglary and shot himself after a deputy walked back to his patrol car to run a license check.
Johnson was George County High School’s star running back and had been offered scholarships to some of the best football programs in the country. His family believes he had too much to live for to commit suicide. They asked Jerome Carter, an attorney from Mobile, Ala., and an independent pathologist to look into the death.
The pathologist, however, could not determine the cause of death “because portions of the wound were extracted and were not present when he conducted his examination” on Saturday, Carter told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
“What our pathologist anticipates is that they were removed by the original pathologist who conducted the autopsy,” Carter said. “We’re not trying to say it’s missing, we’re saying it wasn’t present and we’re hopeful that the ... pathologist who conducted the initial autopsy still has that.”
District Attorney Tony Lawrence said Carter had not spoken to him “one single time” about portions of the body possibly being removed.
Lawrence said “trace evidence” sometimes is taken from bodies during investigations, but said he doesn’t know if that has happened in this case.
“I don’t have any idea what he’s talking about,” Lawrence said.
George County Sheriff Garry Welford asked the district attorney’s office and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation to look into the shooting “to avoid the appearance of impropriety” since one of his deputies was at the scene.
Officials in the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, which oversees the state crime lab, did not immediately respond to messages Tuesday.
Carter said the family’s investigation determined that Johnson was outside his Chevrolet truck with the driver’s door open when the gun went off, which seems to be consistent with police reports. The deputy who was at the scene said he looked up after hearing the shot to find Johnson on the ground outside the truck with the door open and a shotgun on top of his body.
Johnson was an avid hunter.
“The family suspects that it was his shotgun,” Carter said. “They tell me he did have a 12 gauge shotgun that he kept in the back seat of his truck.”
Still, Carter said a lack of answers has tormented the family.
“We’re just asking to move this thing forward so this family can have some peace,” he said.
Carter also disputes that Johnson tried to burglarize a home the morning of his death. He said Johnson went to the home of a girl he had dated and knocked on the door and tapped on a window before leaving. The girl called her mother, who called police, according to a report by a Lucedale police officer.
State News
Lawyer: Parts of player’s head have been removed
- State News
-
- Miss. high court hears arguments over pardons Feuding attorneys asked the Mississippi Supreme Court on Thursday to determine the validity of pardons that Haley Barbour gave to convicted killers and other convicts during his final days as governor. Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. said the court would not rule Thursday, but he didn’t say when a decision would come.
- Senate votes to merge 3 Sunflower school districts The Mississippi Senate passed a bill Wednesday that would merge Sunflower County’s three school districts into one, easing into the politically sensitive topic of consolidation by focusing on a single area in the impoverished Delta.
-
Kansas, Missouri fight to keep Marine data center
Kansas and Missouri officials are working together to fend off New Orleans’ effort to lure a Marine Corps data center and its 400 high-paying jobs away from Kansas City.
The congressional delegations and governors from both states have written to Marine Corps Commandant James F. Amos, arguing to keep the center where it is. -
Judge temporarily blocks Mississippi execution
A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked the execution of a Mississippi inmate who killed two men during a robbery spree in 1995. The man’s attorneys asked for the order, not arguing guilt or innocence, but that corrections officials prevented Edwin Hart Turner from getting medical tests that could prove he is mentally ill.
-
New rules, tests proposed for public aid in Miss.
People who receive public assistance would be subject to random testing for drugs or nicotine and would have to perform community service under new requirements being considered by Mississippi lawmakers.
-
Home strengthening may lower insurance
Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said he is working with legislators on a bill that would require insurers to offer discounts to homeowners who have strengthened homes against wind damage.
State officials told the Sun Herald that they hope the reinforcement of roofing, doors, windows and other components also will qualify homeowners for insurance discounts, although there are no guarantees. -
Inmate asks courts to stop execution
Condemned inmate Edwin Hart Turner’s lawyer told a federal judge Friday that a corrections policy prevented Turner from getting tests that could prove he’s mentally ill and ineligible for execution.
-
Pardoned killer to fight return to Mississippi
A convicted murderer who left Mississippi after being pardoned by former Gov. Haley Barbour seems poised to fight attempts to force him to return from Wyoming. Joseph Ozment’s attorney, Robert Moxley, told The Associated Press on Thursday that he will defend Ozment’s freedom if he decides to try to stay in Wyoming.
-
Universities say financial aid fund running short
Recipients of state scholarships could see their aid packages trimmed unless the Mississippi Legislature puts more money into financial aid. That includes the more than 20,000 students who receive the Mississippi Tuition Assistance Grant.
-
Bad info infuriated kin of pardoned man’s victims
In another twist in the often confusing aftermath of pardons granted by former Gov. Haley Barbour on his way out of office, Mississippi corrections officials said Tuesday that victims’ relatives were given bad information by the state that fanned their outrage.
- More State News Headlines
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs
Expert: Removing LA School's Staff 'Appropriate'
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal
$25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses
Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines
Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States
Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration
Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
