Wed Feb 26 09:00:00 UTC 2025: ## Federal Appeals Court Sends Kendrick Johnson Case Back to Lower Court
**Atlanta, GA** – A federal appeals court in Atlanta has partially reversed a lower court’s dismissal of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of Kendrick Johnson, a Georgia high school student who died in 2013. Johnson was found dead inside a rolled-up gym mat at Lowndes County High School; law enforcement initially ruled his death an accident.
The Johnsons, however, have long maintained that their son’s death was not accidental, citing discrepancies in the investigation and an independent autopsy. Their lawsuit alleged civil rights violations and claimed bias by the presiding judge, U.S. District Court Judge Leigh Martin May.
While the appeals court upheld Judge May’s refusal to recuse herself, finding the family’s claims of bias lacked evidence of extrajudicial influence, they overturned her dismissal of the case. The court ruled that Judge May incorrectly dismissed the lawsuit due to the misnaming of defendants. The lawsuit incorrectly named entities that are not legally liable, such as the GBI, Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office, and the Lowndes County Board of Education. The appeals court noted that these errors could be easily corrected by amending the lawsuit to name the proper legal entities – the county, city, and school district respectively.
The case has now been remanded to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia for reconsideration. While other grounds for dismissal remain, the appeals court’s decision gives the Johnson family a renewed opportunity to pursue their civil rights claims in court. Both parties will have a chance to present their arguments before a judge in the lower court.
First Piper 