Lavena Johanson: All you need to know about lavena Johanson death
Lavena Johanson was a nineteen-year-old US Army until she died in 2015.
However, the circumstances surrounding her death has been of international concern. While the US military has termed her death as suicide, there are speculations that it’s beyond that.
According to the reports, Lavena Johanson was found to have been shot to death inside a burning tent.
The reports revealed she had a broken nose, black eyes, broken teeth and acid burns on her genitals.
While the US military-ruled her death as suicide, her death, however, attracted international attention with allegations linking her death to rape.
Johnson’s father, who is a medical doctor on seeing his daughter’s body, was suspicious and went on to carry out some investigation.
After examining his daughter’s body, he revealed that plastic surgery was done to disguise wounds to her face, including a broken nose, loose teeth, and a busted lip. He stressed that her gloves were glued to her hands to hide burns on her skin.
A report revealed that the military was reluctant to release details surrounding her death, but in the long run, they did so under the Freedom of Information Act.
In June 2008, a spokesman from the House Armed Services Committee said that the committee was looking into her death. However, they stressed that it was not a formal investigation.
On the other hand, Christopher Grey, chief of public affairs for the U.S. Criminal Investigative Command for the Army, revealed that the case remains closed as far as the military is concerned.
Lavena Johanson death, obituary: Lavena Johnson movie
While the mystery surrounding her death remain unravelled, a documentary film about LaVena Johnson’s family struggle for justice was released in 2010.
The documentary was directed by Joan Brooker and titled LaVena Johnson: The Silent Truth.
Also, in July 2011, students from the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute (CCIRI) made use of Johnson’s case as their case for investigation.
While the CCIRI’s crime scene reconstruction aimed to shed light on the case, however, at the end of their investigation, which took three years, they did not accept nor refute the Army’s findings.