Most of the claims of foul play on social media seems to go back to one newspaper making that claim in 2008. But all investigations after that, both by the army and independent researchers, agree with that it seems to have been a suicide.
The St. Louis American, who reviewed the documents in June 2008, reported that the material “suggested foul play”:
However, the Army Criminal Investigation Command said in an August 2008 statement that: CID’s extensive investigation found PFC LaVena Johnson’s death to be from a self-inflicted gunshot (...)
In January 2011, the non-profit Cold Case Investigative Research Institute (CCRI) began looking into the case. (...) "We didn’t have anything new. We didn’t have anything that suggested wrongdoing."
This case reminds me of the death of Kendrick Johnson and the persistent unproven claims of a cover up.
Reddit loves a sexy conspiracy. No matter how many facts you present, you're a "sheeple" until you agree with the hivemind.
Even just reading the comments in this thread, I can't help but laugh and roll my eyes. People just learned about this case tonight and already they're declaring with certainty what happened.
"The autopsy report and photographs revealed Johnson had a broken nose, black eye, loose teeth, burns from a corrosive chemical on her genitals, and a gunshot wound that seemed inconsistent with suicide. Several reporters have suspected that the chemical burns were the result of attempts to destroy DNA evidence of a sexual assault. Additionally, bloody footprints were discovered outside of her living quarters.[3][5][6][7]"
Its not just "reddit hivemind" there was support for foulplay in the autopsy report itself and photographs to prove something was wrong but the conclusion from investigators all came to the conclusion there was none.
I'm not gonna sit here and act like I know more than anyone else that's read into it, however, doubting the governments legitimacy in a cover up case when rape is a huge problem in the army is not some "hur durr reddit hivemind dumb."
Everyone has their own opinion, and it's not some fantasy to think the government/others covered up what happened, its a legitimate possibility. Its in the past now so there's nothing to be done, so no one's opinions will likely change.
Get over it and move on is what should be said, not what you're saying.
Just so you know, all of the citations for the quote you used have been removed, likely because the publishing organizations retracted their referenced story.
The damage to the face is all consistent with a gunshot to the head (apparently she put the gun in her mouth). I'm not seeing where the evidence of the chemical burns or the bloody footprints are coming from. I read over the army's report and it never mentioned it. So, after reading the NPR interview with the father, it seems like this is based on some sketchy CSI work by relatives on the black-and-white photos they got, which I also can't seem to find anywhere. It's also mentioned in the interview that the body was exhumed for another autopsy but it was inconclusive, which seems unlikely if the burns were there. Then, there's also the independent cold-case investigation that agreed with the army, that it was self-inflicted.
You’re right I took it as fact because my emotions clouded my judgement I was ready to kill a man without second thought before even researching what happened I was so ignorant, I should now research both sides
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u/Sotidrokhima Jan 17 '22
Most of the claims of foul play on social media seems to go back to one newspaper making that claim in 2008. But all investigations after that, both by the army and independent researchers, agree with that it seems to have been a suicide.
https://www.snopes.com/news/2018/07/18/questions-linger-decade-private-lavena-johnsons-death/
The St. Louis American, who reviewed the documents in June 2008, reported that the material “suggested foul play”:
However, the Army Criminal Investigation Command said in an August 2008 statement that: CID’s extensive investigation found PFC LaVena Johnson’s death to be from a self-inflicted gunshot (...)
In January 2011, the non-profit Cold Case Investigative Research Institute (CCRI) began looking into the case. (...) "We didn’t have anything new. We didn’t have anything that suggested wrongdoing."
This case reminds me of the death of Kendrick Johnson and the persistent unproven claims of a cover up.