A federal prosecutor announced his plans to investigate the death of 17-year-old high school student Kendrick Johnson, CNN reported.
Michael Moore, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, said Thursday that his office will look into the death of Johnson, whose body was discovered on January 11 rolled up in a bloodied gym mat.
Moore's announcement comes as good news for Johnson's family who has suggesting to investigators that their son may have been murdered. After reviewing information on the case, he said a "sufficient basis exists" to review the evidence surrounding the case.
He also said he would recommend criminal or civil rights charges if evidence discovered warrants them.
"I will follow the facts wherever they lead. My objective is to discover the truth," he said.
Although authorities in the county claim they followed typical procedures into the investigation, a lawyer for Johnson's family claim they didn't do enough -- possibly because Johnson was a black student in a predominantly white area.
"We're happy," said Jacquelyn Johnson, the teen's mother. "The only thing we ever wanted was the truth."
Johnson's father, Kenneth, also said they were satisfied with the prosecutor's decision.
"We are happy to hear we are one step closer to the truth," he said.
Police officials initially said Johnson died from suffocation after reaching for a sneaker that was inside a wrestling mat in his high school's gym. Within a day of finding his body, Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine claimed officers had no reason to suspect foul play.
Outside experts questioned several aspects of the sheriff's handling of the case. Harold Copus, a former FBI agent, asked why blood smears on a nearby wall and a pair of shoes with what appeared to be blood on them were never analyzed.
However, investigators claimed the wall blood was unrelated and the substance on the shoes were not blood.
In addition, Johnson's body was stuffed with newspaper instead of his organs following the first autopsy -- making his loved ones even more suspicious.
"They know something happened in that gym, and they don't want it to come out," his father said.
