Quiet Speed
Mentor
This case was reported (Who shot Billey Joe Johnson?) on by Charlie Robinson and Dan Weztel on Yahoo and discussed at American Renaissance. Accusations of wrong doing by a white deputy in the death of a young black football star is the upshot of the story. Authorities contended suicide. Today a grand jury ruled an accidental death. Important to the decision was no forensic evidence on the officer's clothing. A NAACP person says there is plan B.
Grand jury: Billey Joe Johnson's gunshot death an accident
LUCEDALE, MS (AP) - A star Mississippi high school football player accidentally shot himself with a shotgun after he was pulled over during a traffic stop, a grand jury ruled Thursday.
Billey Joe Johnson, 17, a junior at George County High School, died of a wound to the head on Dec. 8 after a deputy pulled him over for running a red light. After an initial investigation, authorities said the blast had been self-inflicted.
The grand jury was looking at whether it was an accident, suicide or even a possible slaying. It concluded there was no forensic evidence, including DNA, that indicated the deputy who pulled Johnson over had fired the gun.
"The grand jury finds ... that Deputy Joe Sullivan was in his patrol car at the time of Billey Joe Johnson Jr.'s death," the ruling said.
The ruling said Johnson's hands tested positive for gunpowder residue and there were no other injuries on his body. The grand jury said there were no other people involved in the shooting.
The mystery surrounding the athlete's death has inflamed suspicion, with Johnson's family and the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People rejecting the notion of suicide. They said he had too much to live for including a chance of playing in college and maybe the NFL.
more
Grand jury: Billey Joe Johnson's gunshot death an accident
LUCEDALE, MS (AP) - A star Mississippi high school football player accidentally shot himself with a shotgun after he was pulled over during a traffic stop, a grand jury ruled Thursday.
Billey Joe Johnson, 17, a junior at George County High School, died of a wound to the head on Dec. 8 after a deputy pulled him over for running a red light. After an initial investigation, authorities said the blast had been self-inflicted.
The grand jury was looking at whether it was an accident, suicide or even a possible slaying. It concluded there was no forensic evidence, including DNA, that indicated the deputy who pulled Johnson over had fired the gun.
"The grand jury finds ... that Deputy Joe Sullivan was in his patrol car at the time of Billey Joe Johnson Jr.'s death," the ruling said.
The ruling said Johnson's hands tested positive for gunpowder residue and there were no other injuries on his body. The grand jury said there were no other people involved in the shooting.
The mystery surrounding the athlete's death has inflamed suspicion, with Johnson's family and the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People rejecting the notion of suicide. They said he had too much to live for including a chance of playing in college and maybe the NFL.
more