Residents in a Pennsylvania town where a Black teenager died after being chased by his white classmates have raised questions over whether racial harassment played a part in the moments leading up to his death.
Police in Lower Paxton Township, Pennsylvania, are investigating the death of 16-year-old Justin Johnson, who died after going into cardiac arrest on Friday, April 26.
That night, Johnson was visited by two white teenagers. He called his father to tell him he was going outside to “play tag” with friends. Home surveillance footage shows one white teen ringing the doorbell to Johnson’s house and Johnson going outside with him.
Then, another white teen suddenly appears across the street, and both teens begin chasing Johnson. Johnson is seen on video running down an embankment next to his house and disappearing from view. One white teen yells, “Yo, where the [expletive] did he go? He just went back to f–ing Africa!”
Minutes later, Johnson appears on surveillance video again, walking back into his home alone.
Almost an hour after Johnson went inside, his father tried to call him, but there was no answer. His father arrived home about a half hour after that call, where he found his son unresponsive on the floor.
He started CPR and called 911. Medics arrived shortly after and rushed Johnson to a local hospital. He was pronounced dead there later that night.
The results of Johnson’s autopsy done by county officials revealed the cause of death was complications of sickle cell disease. The coroner also stated that the 16-year-old suffered from cardiomyopathy, which makes it difficult for a person’s heart to pump blood.
Johnson and his family had recently moved into town from Jamaica. He was a 10th-grade student at Central Dauphin High School. Community members began circulating rumors and a video on social media that he died after an apparent hazing incident, Fox 43 reports.
The Central Dauphin School District addressed those rumors in an official statement about Johnson’s death.
“We understand that the circumstances around Justin’s death have not been determined, however there are social media reports that indicated that Justin was subjected to racial insensitivity from classmates,” the statement reads. “Hate speech or any behavior that denigrates another person’s rights will not be tolerated and is not consistent with the mission, vision, and values of CDSD. We are aware of the social media posts and are cooperating with local law enforcement.”
Johnson’s father, Orville Johnson, confirmed his son had sickle cell disease and wasn’t supposed to exert himself. Physical and psychological stress can trigger a sickle cell crisis, which can lead to hospitalizations, according to Healthline.
Johnson would have turned 17 on April 30.
“The Monday, previous Monday, those kids were here, and they knew each other from school. Why would you chase him?” Johnson said, according to Penn Live. “My son is a special son. He’s very special, I mean that’s my life.”
His father has hired the services of a law firm to conduct an independent investigation. Attorneys for the family believe the TikTok trend “Senior Assassin” played a role in Johnson’s death and trying to confirm if one of the other teens involved was carrying a weapon.
“It’s our belief that (Justin) was in fear,” Attorney Nicholas Johnson said during a May 1 press conference.
Despite the results autopsy results, Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo said the case may not be closed.
“It is a factor that militates against criminal liability, but it is not dispositive,” said Chardo. “One of the factors we look at: did the other individuals know of the circumstances? Did they cause stress intentionally or recklessly with malice? We look at all those factors, so we haven’t closed it automatically just because the coroner determined that it was natural causes, we’re still looking at it.”
