Thursday, January 1, 2009

Independent autopsy to be performed on Johnson

By MARGARET BAKER - mbbaker@sunherald.com

The head of the George County chapter of the NAACP said this morning that they have found a pathologist to perform an independent autopsy on George County football star Billey Joe Johnson.

The autopsy will be performed some time today or Friday, George County NAACP head Willie Gaines said Thursday, though he said he did not yet want to identify the pathologist scheduled to perform the procedure.

Johnson died at 5:40 a.m. on Dec. 8.

A George County sheriff's deputy had pulled Johnson over near Mississippi 26 for running a red light and stop sign. In the incident report, the officer said that he was at his patrol car checking Johnson's driver's license when he heard a gunshot and breaking glass and then saw Johnson dead outside his truck with a shotgun on top of him.

The sheriff said Johnson died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, something Johnson's family and the NAACP are questioning. In fact, the attorney for the Johnson family said that that the wounds on Johnson's body were not consistent with what was reported on the police report.

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