at this time, however, i am of the opinion that a base exists for my office to conduct a formal review of the facts and investigation surrounding the death of kendrick johnson. reporter: u.s. attorney michael moore supported by the fbi will soon head to valdosta, georgia, to conduct a federal investigation into the death of 17-year-old kendrick johnson. i will follow the facts wherever wherever they lead. my objective is to discover the truth. hallelujah! thank you, jesus. thank you, jesus! reporter: kendrick s grandmother watched the announcement on a portable tv on the street corner where the family continues its eight-month sit-in, demanding answers. i m so happy and i know we trust in the lord and we just had been down here rallying for 32 weeks for nothing. reporter: the johnson family never believed the local sheriff s explanation that kendrick suffocated after squeezing his 19 inch shoulders into the 14 1/2 inch center of a
watched the announcement on a portable tv on the street corner where the family continues its eight-month sit-in demanding answers. i m happy and we trust in the lord and we just have been down here rallying for 32 weeks, haven t been for nothing. reporter: the johnson family never believed the local sheriff s explanation that kendrick suffocated after squeezing his 19 inch shoulders into the 14 1/2 inch center of a rolled gym mat to reach for a shoe in the middle of the school day. his parents always maintained that their son was killed and the only question we want to know is why are they covering up for whoever killed their son. i believe indeed that he was murdered. do you have any idea who may have murdered him? no i don t. that s what we want to get down to the truth. reporter: cnn has been reporting on this case for months, uncovering details of the sheriff s investigation, like why these shoes found yards from kendrick s body were not collected as evidence, and ho
14 1/2-inch rolled gym mat opening to reach his shoe in the middle of a school day. they spoke with wolf blitzer moments after the announcement. i believe indeed that he was murdered. do you have any idea who may have murdered him? no, i don t. that s what we want to get down to the truth. the only question we want to know is why are they covering up for whoever killed their son. reporter: questions to the sheriff s department has made the johnson s suspicion, including why these shoes found yards from kendrick s body were not collected as evidence and how this bloodstain ended up on this wall in the gym and why investigators never found whose blood it was. and questions have also lingered about the state s autopsy. the official cause of death was positional asphyxia, kendrick was suffocated by his own body weight, but a second autopsy paid for by the johnson s found that kendrick died from blunt force
third, if mr. johnson s death was the result of a crime, who committed that crime? reporter: kendrick s parents never believed the local sheriff explanation kendrick suffocated after squeezing his 19-inch shoulders into the 14 1/2 inch opening of a gym mat to reach his shoe in the middle of a school day. they spoke with wolf blitzer moments after the announcement. i believe indeed that he was murdered. do you have any idea who may have murdered him? no, i don t. that s what we want to get down to the truth. the only question we want to know is why are they covering up for who killed their son. reporter: questions to the sheriff s department has made the johnson s suspicion, including why these shoes found yards from kendrick s body were not collected as evidence and how this bloodstain ended up
the small south georgia city. demonstrators want answers in the death of kendrick johnson and soon a u.s. attorney will announce whether or not he wants answers too. in january he was found dead at school. investigators with the county sheriff s office said he squeezed his 19 inch shoulders into the 14 1/2 inch center of this rolled gym mat and got stuck upside down while reaching for this shoe. after an autopsy a medical examiner with the georgia bureau of investigation agreed the official cause of death was accidental positional asphyxia. he was cufficated by his body weight. we examined the alternatives and the only that fit the evidence and the pardon meial evidence we received was this is an accident. an accident. we just didn t believe it. kendrick s parents kenneth