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This is from 2015 and was the most recent story on PFC LaVena Johnson:
"The Army says the 19-year-old soldier killed herself in Iraq -- a finding that her family has never believed.
For ten years, Johnson has been on a mission to find his own answers to what happened to his pretty daughter who played the violin and wanted to be a movie producer. The honor student who took after him."
"Investigators concluded that Private Johnson shot herself in the mouth with her M-16 rifle in a contractor’s tent on the military base in Balad, Iraq, where she was stationed. The report included witness testimony suggesting that she may have been depressed over a recent breakup.
John Johnson would have none of it. He demanded to see the Army’s evidence. He filed Freedom of Information requests and enlisted the assistance of local legislators."
"Johnson doesn’t mince words: He believes his daughter was raped and murdered, her death covered up.
Johnson says he had to find the strength to look at the autopsy photos of his daughter – and to examine her body before the funeral. In 2007, he made another difficult decision: having her body exhumed for an independent autopsy. The results were inconclusive."
"The Army says the 19-year-old soldier killed herself in Iraq -- a finding that her family has never believed.
For ten years, Johnson has been on a mission to find his own answers to what happened to his pretty daughter who played the violin and wanted to be a movie producer. The honor student who took after him."
"Investigators concluded that Private Johnson shot herself in the mouth with her M-16 rifle in a contractor’s tent on the military base in Balad, Iraq, where she was stationed. The report included witness testimony suggesting that she may have been depressed over a recent breakup.
John Johnson would have none of it. He demanded to see the Army’s evidence. He filed Freedom of Information requests and enlisted the assistance of local legislators."
"Johnson doesn’t mince words: He believes his daughter was raped and murdered, her death covered up.
Johnson says he had to find the strength to look at the autopsy photos of his daughter – and to examine her body before the funeral. In 2007, he made another difficult decision: having her body exhumed for an independent autopsy. The results were inconclusive."
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Posted from news.stlpublicradio.orgPosted in these groups: 
Crime
Crime
Posted >1 y ago
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An outrageous story. It is so hard to believe that the brass at the Army would cover this up.
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"The Army recommended that the family have a closed casket funeral but the Johnson family decided on an open-casket funeral, and it was here where they began to see several discrepancies with the Army’s story. For one, LaVena’s nose looked like it had been broken, and her lips cut. The only sign of a gunshot wound was a small bullet hole on the left side of her head, but the Army told them she had shot herself in the mouth. The entry wound also looked like it came from a 9MM, not an M-16 rifle."
"LaVena’s gloves had also been glued onto her hands, which was not normal protocol. When LaVena’s dad finally got his hands on the autopsy report months later, he discovered more suspicious information.
He discovered that no rape kit was done and no fingernail scrapings were ever taken. It was evident that the medical examiner who conducted the autopsy had already determined the death to have been a suicide beforehand."
"The photos showed that LaVena had severe damage to her face, resembling someone who had been hit with a blunt object. Her nose was broken, she had a black eye and loose teeth, and some type of corrosive liquid had been poured into her genitals, most likely to destroy any DNA evidence. The gunshot wound was also inconsistent with suicide. LaVena’s father did not believe his 5-foot-1 daughter’s arms were long enough to pull the trigger of an M-16 cradled between her legs, as described in the Army’s report.
The Army said they did not do a rape kit because it did not look like there was any evidence of a struggle. Even though there was no suicide note, no recovered bullet, no significant gunshot residue on her hands, and a trail of blood found outside the tent—the Army claimed that she was depressed and unstable days before her death and that her death was a suicide, and closed the case."
https://thehueandcry.com/lavena-johnson/
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-mar-08-na-women-soldier-suicides8-story.html
"LaVena’s gloves had also been glued onto her hands, which was not normal protocol. When LaVena’s dad finally got his hands on the autopsy report months later, he discovered more suspicious information.
He discovered that no rape kit was done and no fingernail scrapings were ever taken. It was evident that the medical examiner who conducted the autopsy had already determined the death to have been a suicide beforehand."
"The photos showed that LaVena had severe damage to her face, resembling someone who had been hit with a blunt object. Her nose was broken, she had a black eye and loose teeth, and some type of corrosive liquid had been poured into her genitals, most likely to destroy any DNA evidence. The gunshot wound was also inconsistent with suicide. LaVena’s father did not believe his 5-foot-1 daughter’s arms were long enough to pull the trigger of an M-16 cradled between her legs, as described in the Army’s report.
The Army said they did not do a rape kit because it did not look like there was any evidence of a struggle. Even though there was no suicide note, no recovered bullet, no significant gunshot residue on her hands, and a trail of blood found outside the tent—the Army claimed that she was depressed and unstable days before her death and that her death was a suicide, and closed the case."
https://thehueandcry.com/lavena-johnson/
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-mar-08-na-women-soldier-suicides8-story.html
LaVena Johnson was just 19 when she died in Iraq in 2005. The Army ruled her death a suicide, even-though all evidence points to foul play and a coverup.
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