The mother of Kendrick Johnson – the teen whose body was found rolled up in a gym mat at his high school in 2013 – appears to have been victimized by a scammer. Jackie Johnson says she was approached by a woman on Facebook under the guise of helping her prepare a rally for justice for Kendrick. In the end, the dead teen’s mom was forced to come out of pocket to pay for unfulfilled promises.
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The Scam
On April 14, a TikToker named “Jolly” accused Dana Banks of scamming Kendrick Johnson’s mom, Jackie Johnson. He started off a three-minute-long TikTok with the warning: “Please make sure this lady doesn’t scam another mother and if we can, please help out Ms Johnson. #justiceforkendrickjohnson”
Jolly started the video off with the phrase, “Of course, it was a white woman,” before instructing the audience to get a good look at the alleged scammer, Dana Banks.
Jolly then explained how Banks “took advantage of the pain of black mother, who lost her son and then scammed her.”
Seventeen-year-old Kendrick Johnson died by suffocating after falling headfirst into a rolled-up gym mat at his high school on January 11, 2013, according to autopsy reports. After a brief run-through of the circumstances of Kendrick’s death, Jolly said Kendrick was ”obviously and apparently murdered, but no one has ever been held responsible because the police the medical examiner and everybody involved colluded to cover up his death which wouldn’t have happened if he was a white teen.”
Moving past that, Jolly then introduced Dana’s role in the story. He said “Dana messaged Miss Jackie Johnson on Facebook and said that she would like to hold a rally in support of Kendrick Johnson demanding accountability”. This supposed rally was to hold at the Capitol in Washington, DC. Dana claimed Johnson told her not to “worry about it,” in addition to covering for hotels, transportation, and putting the rally together.
Kendrick’s mother agreed to this. On the day of the rally, April 11, Johnson and other Georgian mothers who had lost their children to gun violence or police brutality went up to DC in a charter bus that Banks had arranged.
A photo of the rally was then shown in the TikTok video, where Jolly stated that “Mrs. Johnson was not very happy,” and then explained why. The rally was in a muddy field. Furthermore, Banks did not advertise the rally, so no one else was there except for Jackie Johnson and the other mothers.
That’s when Jolly said it got “real ugly”. When the mothers arrived at their hotel, it was revealed that the rooms were reserved but unpaid. Attempts to call Dana were made, but Dana did not pick up.
“Her phone was off and she was a ghost,” said Jolly.
This forced Johnson to pay nearly $4,000 out of pocket in hotel room expenses for her and the other mothers. Then, the group tried to get back to Georgia but found it difficult doing so as the bus fee was unpaid. In order to get everyone back, Jackie was forced to pay $8,800.
Reportedly, over $12,000 came out of Jackie Johnson’s pocket for a Dana Banks’ scam rally. Jolly then showed screenshots evidencing money being raised for the rally in Kendrick Johnson’s name. He shared how Banks had expressed gratitude to “people on Facebook for their heartfelt donation but she’s been a ghost since the day of the rally.”
“None of that money went towards the rally or to Mrs. Johnson,” said Jolly in an emphatic voice. “So Mrs. Johnson is out $12,000 and Dana made money and clout off her son’s name.”
In the final moments of the video, he quickly displayed the mother’s Cash App handle, with an “Internet, do your thing.”
Jackie Johnson, under the TikTok handle @jackie.johnson47 commented on the video, writing, “Dana Banks didn’t pay for the bus at all, not even for us to make it to Washington DC; she only used my son’s name for clout.”
Devastating Autopsy Details Are Fueling Our Resolve For #JusticeForJelaniDay
Almost three months after missing Illinois State College graduate Jelani Day’s body was found, a new autopsy revealed facts about the young man’s death. A report by a private forensic pathologist suggests that Jelani’s jaw had been sawed out among other heartbreaking revelations. The black community is once again devastated, but not deterred.
In a statement, Jelani Day’s mother Camren Bolden-Day detailed the facts of the autopsy findings and refuted false reports.
“No organs were missing. I do not want to stray off from the facts. There were contradicting facts from the first preliminary autopsy compared to the second independent autopsy, but this is not a case of organ harvesting. However, my son did not put himself in a river. My son was murdered and my goal and purpose are to find out what happened and hold those responsible accountable.”