Pfc. LaVena L. Johnson

Murder of an American Soldier

Allow me to begin by stating that by no means am I an expert on the topic at hand nor am I privy to information that is not already available to the public. The topic I will be discussing has been defined and reported by many intelligent men and women with years of experience in highlighting critical issues such as this, for decades. Their first-hand knowledge and, experience, place them in high regard among those with comparable stories of grief and heartache. I am a citizen journalist guided by the principles of my heart and a man who feels that for too long we have been blind to the pain and suffering that exists around us. I am the descendent of courageous men who fought to preserve the dignity and sovereignty of our country. I harbor a deep and resounding respect for those who serve in our armed forces. The son of a strong woman who made no excuses in life and up until her last breath was unwavering in her faith to God and country, my sense of duty is not limited to military service. My intention, with this report is simply to keep out of the shadows that which certain elements of society would like to keep obscured by darkness. I want to keep the names of those who deserve justice fresh on our minds so that they may live through our memories and their fight may continue. It is my sincere hope that allies join me, and that survivors unite in the defense of victims world-wide so that in this common mission, we find purpose, strength, and the courage to stand by our convictions that evil must not be allowed to continue unchallenged.

  John Stuart Mill stated that, “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing…” - 1867

In 2020 our nation and the entire world, was thrown into chaos due to the Wuhan virus. Despite human coronavirus existing for over 50 years and common coronaviruses infecting people much like influenza and the common cold, we were told that this new variant would do irreparable harm to the world and that many would die as a result. With mainstream media peddling trepidation on a constant basis, many of us feared for the worst and prepared for such a scenario. What we did not realize was that as this pandemic jumped from continent to continent and from one moment to the next, there was another, secret yet equally fatal epidemic that was decimating a population within a population for decades. Military violence was plaguing our bases and soldiers were dying at alarming rates. The most fascinating aspect of this epidemic was that many soldiers were no longer in active armed conflict and suicide was ruled as the predominant cause of death. What was happening? Why were we not told about the severity of this deadly plague infecting the U.S. military for so long? How could all these young, strong duty-bound Americans be committing suicide while on active duty at rates that were described as shocking? Why were many of the victims disproportionately women?

Government research, highlighted by investigative reporter Alan Zarembo, compiled over the span of 11 years noted that female military veterans commit suicide at six times the rate of other women. Their suicide rate is so high that Dr. Matthew Miller, an epidemiologist, and suicide expert at Northeastern University called the data, “staggering.” He emphasized that, “we have to come to grips with why the rates are so obscenely high.” The startling findings pose some disturbing questions about the backgrounds and experiences of women who serve in the armed forces. An article from the Pentagon estimated that 10 percent of active-duty women were raped, and another 13 percent were subjected to unwanted sexual contact. A 2012 survey by the Department of Defense found that 23 percent of active-duty women had experienced unwanted sexual contact. Though it is not clear what is the factor driving these deeply concerning rates, cases such as that of U.S. Army Private First-Class LaVena Johnson who died in Balad, Iraq in 2005, certainly raise significant questions on whether these suicides are being properly investigated, properly classified or simply, covered-up.

The following report will highlight the disturbing set of circumstances behind the death of LaVena Johnson. Her death was labeled a suicide, but her family calls it murder and a cover-up by the U.S. Army. You will read in gruesome detail the findings of medical examiners as well as those of a private investigative team headed by Pfc. Johnson’s father and uncle. The details will trigger you and though the case remains unsolved and still classified a suicide, the Johnson family suspects that the murderer or murderers include top brass within the U.S. Army. I warn you, the details that you are about to hear are graphic but if we are to ever get to the bottom of this case and others, we must bare the burden of every uncomfortable detail so that we can learn how to fight to end it.

Born in Missouri, on July 27th, 1985, LaVena Lynn Johnson was 1 of 5 children and the first of two girls, a beloved member of the tight-knit Johnson family. Remembered as a very friendly and compassionate child, she would spend much of her time playing and listening to music with her three older brothers and loving father. A cherished memory, spoken of by her parents, was that LaVena would spend so much time on the family’s homemade swing that she would often fall asleep while swinging. Her parents would laugh together while watching her from the porch, until her father Dr. Johnson would carry her off to bed.

An indication that LaVena was special, came as early as when she was 4 months old when she was named, “Baby of the Year”, by the congregation of the Walnut Park Church where the family worshipped. At 4 years old, she would begin singing for the church choir and performed during the holiday programs on Christmas and Easter, practicing each night until she memorized every hymn. Very early on, LaVena exhibited the signs of a natural leader when every Sunday morning, she would get up earlier than her siblings, making sure that every family member was awake and with plenty of time to get ready to attend church. She took her role as big sister seriously and proudly led her younger sister by the hand wherever they went.

At 5 years old, she began attending first grade at Keevan Elementary School and immediately became a staff favorite, earning honor roll certificates, throughout her time there. In the fourth grade she began violin lessons and would practice every night, wanting to be the best at everything she did. For the next 4 years she would perform in several school concerts and was well known in her community for being an excellent student and all around phenomenal young lady. Her academic excellence was further proven outstanding, when a science fair project she submitted was recognized and honored at the state level, but academics was not all that LaVena enjoyed. She also took up track martial arts and physical fitness meant a lot to her. At 11 years old she became a member of Vegetarian Economy and Green Agriculture or VEGA which is an organization that advocates for alternative forms of food other than farm animals. From an incredibly early age LaVena showed a love and compassion for everything she set sight on, and she carried this deep sense of compassion and purpose into early adulthood.

Some of the cherished memories that her family would share include LaVena insisting that immediately after Thanksgiving she begin decorating the Christmas tree. She and her younger sister would then proceed to decorate the entire house with LaVena designating specific jobs for her eager and willing, siblings. On her parents’ anniversaries LaVena and her sister, who had learned to play the flute, would play music for them over a candlelight dinner that she had cooked. It became an honored tradition for them to serenade their parents with an appropriate song as they enjoyed a dinner together. The love LaVena had for her family was profound and unwavering and felt by every one of the Johnson’s.

In junior high school, LaVena would spend 2 years earning awards and certificates for her many accomplishments including a Certificate of Academic Recognition from then Congressman William Lacy Clay. She earned a stellar reputation among students and staff alike, was highly admired and became known as a dependable student and friend. By the time she began attending Hazelwood High School, she was already an accomplished violinist, academic scholar, sports athlete, and treasured member of her community. Everyone had only remarkable things to say about her. She would attend every high school sporting event with her father and various other school events with her mother and siblings. LaVena had matured to the point of knowing exactly what she wanted to do with her life and before completing high school, she made three specific goals for her future.

First, LaVena wanted to attend college and major in performing arts with dreams of becoming a movie producer. Her father, Dr. John H. Johnson had written several fiction novels and her goal was to one day produce a screenplay adaptation of one of his books. Her oldest brother John had written over thirty songs and was forming a music company. Upon graduating, goal number 2 was to create a family run music and film company to highlight the many talents of the Johnson’s. Her third goal included continuing with community issues that she held near and dear to her heart regarding, the ethical treatment of animals, feeding the hungry, fundraising for cancer research, recycling initiatives and blood and plasma donation. As you can clearly see, LaVena was a deeply altruistic human being. Her next decision would be the direct result of that altruism but would ultimately change the course of the Johnson family history.

Knowing that attending college would impose added financial burden on her parents, LaVena suggested that she would earn the funding by enlisting in the U.S. Army. As the world had recently been thrust into war with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban over the tragic events of September 11th, she was compelled to commit to the service of her country. She convinced her parents, who were against the decision, that not only would she follow in the footsteps of her father himself a veteran but that in seeing the world, it would allow her to add more experience and more knowledge to her life goals. They understood that LaVena was a woman undaunted and would set out to achieve anything she put her mind to. Apprehensively, they supported her decision to enlist and in May of 2004, after graduating with full honors from Hazelwood High School, she enlisted in the U.S Army. She attended Basic Training at Fort Jackson in South Carolina for eight weeks. It was no surprise that at her graduation ceremony, LaVena’s parents were told by her drill Sergeants that they could tell she was raised in a disciplined home and that she was mentally tough and was often used as a role model to both female and male soldiers. Within nine months of enlisting, LaVena was deployed to Joint Base Balad in Balad, Iraq with the 129th Corps Support Division. After only six weeks abroad, tragedy would strike and with devastating brutality.

There is no pain equal to the pain experienced by a parent who suffers the loss of a child. The emptiness that exists within the heart and soul of parents who grieve from these deeply impactful experiences is carried throughout life and is a wound that can never fully heal. It is hard to imagine that grief, being amplified by unanswered questions or answers that only add to mounting doubt and confusion. In the case of LaVena Johnson, how could this young private, so full of life and dreams, have been killed at a U.S. Army base? Worst still, how was it that her death was ruled a suicide when autopsy reports showed much more? The following chapter will go over every action taken by Dr. John H. Johnson, his brother, and the private investigative team they convened to get to the truth of what happened to LaVena. The details of her premature death are beyond comprehension.  

On Sunday morning July 17th, 2005, LaVena spoke to her parents to advise them of some important developments. First, that her unit would be rotating back to the states within three to four months. Second, that she would be stationed at a U.S. base for one year until deploying back to Iraq. Third, was that she was starting a new job and would need to attend a class, on Monday, to ascertain what that new job was and would follow-up with a call home on Tuesday. Lastly and most importantly, she said that she would complete her time in Iraq and return home to attend college, in her own words she said, “this is what I should have done in the first place…” Was this statement in some way indicative of a problem she was having? Her family believes it was. This conversation would be the last between LaVena and her parents.

Two people who were stationed with LaVena in Iraq and who would ultimately become witnesses for Dr. Johnson’s investigative team stated that when they knocked on LaVena’s door, that Sunday evening she did not answer. The same two witnesses returned the following Monday morning on July 18th, to accompany her to class but again, LaVena did not answer. By 10 am that morning, when LaVena did not report to class, the two witnesses reported her missing. According to Dr. Johnson it is likely that she was murdered shortly after their phone call on Sunday the 17th. At 7:30 am, on Tuesday, July 19th, a member of the U.S. Army would visit the Johnson home to report that LaVena had committed suicide. They would provide no specific details other than that she died of a self-inflicted wound. Dr. Johnson would be forced to find out on his own that his daughter’s death was the result of a gunshot wound to the head.

That Tuesday morning, upon seeing a soldier on the steps of their home, Dr. Johnson knew something terrible had happened to LaVena and expressed this to his wife, who refused to believe that it could be true. They opened the door and invited the soldier to step into the foyer. To the Johnson’s surprise, there was not an officer or chaplain present, but a staff sergeant. A slight relief came over Dr. Johnson who thought that it could not have been serious if a staff sergeant were present, however, the staff sergeant stated that he had a message that came directly from the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and that their daughter LaVena Lynn Johnson had died. The Johnsons were in a state of shock. Mrs. Johnson collapsed to the floor, Dr. Johnson fell back onto the steps leading upstairs and for five minutes sat speechless while the staff sergeant stared stoically at them both. Mrs. Johnson’s grief-stricken cries woke up LaVena’s siblings who rushed to the sound of their mother. She was inconsolable and uttered words that no mother should be burdened to say, “someone killed my baby, someone killed my beautiful baby!”

In a statement presented by Christopher Grey, chief of public affairs for the military’s criminal investigation division, the armed services medical examiner performed an autopsy while LaVena’s unit and the C.I.D. conducted separate investigations. Though he expressed a willingness to reopen the case upon receipt of any new evidence, he would continue to standby the conclusion that LaVena died of self-inflicted wounds. Highly suspicious of that conclusion, Dr. Johnson ordered that his daughter’s body be sent back home immediately. After seeing the body of his daughter, he knew without a doubt that the determinations made by the initial autopsy as well as the Army’s Criminal Investigation division were wrong and that LaVena was brutally murdered.

All the physical and forensic evidence available to military investigators suggested the LaVena was murdered. However, these investigators shamelessly chose to disregard the evidence and instead classified Private Johnson’s death as a suicide. Dr. Johnson believed that the Army’s findings were flawed because, he says, her death was investigated as a suicide, not a homicide. All the information from the Army was vague and contradictory, and Dr. Johnson believed none of it. Like any father would do, he took matters into his own hands and formed his own investigative team, enlisting the help of family members like his brother who studied criminal science and later, the help of Attorney Donald Watkins of Alabama. It was his brother who labeled LaVena’s death a homicide when he found that LaVena’s neck had been broken and her shoulder dislocated. It was Attorney Watkins who would single out a primary suspect. For eight years they pored over the investigation documents, studied every horrifying photograph, and analyzed each witness statement. Dr. Johnson told the media that he had suspicions about his daughter's death, even as she was being buried with military honors at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. When he demanded to see the Army’s evidence, they initially denied him. He had to file a Freedom of Information request and enlist the help of Congressman William Lacy Clay, who years earlier had presented LaVena with a Certificate of Recognition for her many scholarly achievements. In a statement to St. Louis Public Radio, Congressman Clay said that his staff devoted hundreds of hours to helping the Johnson family discover the truth about the case, including helping them obtain the original autopsy report and photos. “PFC Johnson gave her life for her country, and her country has an obligation to tell her family the whole truth about her death,” Clay said. It was Congressman Clay who suggested that Dr. Johnson have LaVena’s body exhumed and a second autopsy performed.

Dr. Johnson never minced words, He said that he was positive that his daughter was raped and murdered, and her death covered up. Johnson said 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, after the suggestions of Congressman Clay, he made another difficult decision in having LaVena’s body exhumed for an independent autopsy. "There were some extremely difficult things I had to do,’’ he said. Johnson disputed everything about the Army’s conclusion. He says her commanding officer described her as happy and healthy, why would she suddenly want to kill herself? He contends that her arms were too short, that she could not have shot herself with her rifle, and that the wound in her head was too small to have been made by an M-16. He says the pictures tell him that LaVena had been brutally beaten. There was no suicide note and the bullet that killed her was never found. “All of us cannot be wrong about the evidence that we have compiled. It is awful, awful, awful compelling,’’ Johnson says. “And, unfortunately, Lavena got lost in all of this and just lost everything trying to be a good American citizen.’’ John Johnson remains as convinced today as he was 17 years ago that his daughter did not, and would not, commit suicide and that her murder was covered up. He would later emphasize, “But I am going to fight until I get justice for her. We are just going to keep doing what we can to keep her story alive.”

Lavena was found dead, in the tent of a military contractor, with a trail of blood leading out of the tent and bloody footprint found on scene. The Army initially told the Johnson’s that she was found in her barracks. She had a broken nose and a black eye. Her teeth were loose, and she was found to have numerous bruises, teeth marks, scratches, and burns on her body. Her neck was broken, and her right shoulder dislocated. LaVena’s genitals were burned with a corrosive chemical in an obvious attempt to cover-up a rape. LaVena had a gunshot wound to the top left side of her skull above her left eye. A portion of her tongue had been removed. The Johnson’s investigation found that there were attempts to do plastic surgery to hide wounds to her nose and mouth. Despite the overwhelming evidence that LaVena was the victim of a heinous assault and brutal murder, the Army maintains that she killed herself with her own M-16 rifle after receiving an email from her boyfriend, allegedly breaking up with her. LaVena was 19 years old and died 6,620 miles away from home just 10 days shy of her 20th birthday. How in the world, could anyone, let alone our own United States Army look a family in the eye and claim that a soldier committed suicide in lieu of powerful evidence to the contrary? It is truly unfathomable and yet, in 2022, the Johnson family have yet to find out the truth.

In 2010, Mr. Donald Watkin, a highly respected and esteemed attorney in Birmingham, Alabama with a career spanning 43 years came across the story of LaVena Johnson. As an investigator who had successfully litigated many cases of corruption and cover-up, he immediately identified discrepancies in the Army’s explanation and reached out to Dr. Johnson. He did not solicit his services but instead asked that he be allowed to review all the documents that the Johnson’s had collected since LaVena’s murder and that, as a dedicated father of five himself, he would offer his professional analysis. The Johnson’s agreed and sent over 1,000s of documents. Putting his own reputation and law license on the line, Mr. Watkin ultimately concluded and stated publicly that not only was LaVena Johnson’s death a homicide but that it was also a massive cover-up by the United States military. LaVena had no gun-powder residue anywhere on her body. If she had put the barrel of the M-16 into her mouth, there would have been DNA on the barrel yet there was none. There was a cut on her finger large enough to have spilled blood on the trigger and yet there was no blood on the trigger. Again, no bullet from the M-16 was found. These were just of few of the details that led to Mr. Watkins final analysis. In 2016, Mr. Watkins and Dr. Johnson would appear in an interview on the Rock Newman Show to explain in detail, their findings. In that same interview, Dr. Johnson would mention how, during a segment on the Larry King talk show, the mother of the late Army Ranger Pat Tillman would mention how the Army was in fact capable of covering up her son’s homicide just as they did with Pfc. LaVena Johnson.

As stated in the last chapter, during an interview on the Rock Newman Podcast in 2016, attorney Watkins and Dr. Johnson explained in detail their findings, specifically, the compelling forensic evidence or rather, lack thereof. In addition to not having gun powder residue on her hands or her fingerprints being found on the gun, no DNA evidence being found on the rifle, no bullet being found at the scene, and no finger prints found on the book of matches that were said to have been used to light a fire in the tent, Watkins and Johnson ask, how could all of these factors be overlooked by professional investigators? Only one answer was plausible at the time. Were the investigators instructed to reach a pre-determined conclusion? Before we dive into that question, let us back track just three days before LaVena’s death to a conversation she had with her father on July the 14th.

LaVena was responsible for opening and closing the base communications center. On the 14th, she had called her father to describe an encounter with a general, at the communications center that seemed odd. In that conversation, she also explained to her father that after six weeks in Iraq she had still not been assigned a battle buddy. This alarmed her father who insisted that she petition her commanders to immediately assign her a battle buddy. As would any father, he was alarmed to know that his 19-year-old daughter, 6,600 miles away from home and surrounded by men, had no one to watch her back. LaVena told her father that she could not simply petition her command to do so and at that point Dr. Johnson warned her to be vigilant in her own protection and that if she would not petition her commanders for a battle buddy, he would reach out to Congressman Lacy Clay for assistance. LaVena would be killed before he could ever make that call. When the Johnson’s finally received LaVena’s personal effects, there was a list on a notepad where LaVena had recorded the names of her chain of command. The name on the top of that list was a general who would become suspect number one.

We return now to the question of, how could the Army’s investigators overlook all these details, unless they were instructed to reach a pre-determined conclusion? This effort would certainly not be coordinated for a defense contractor or another private who had done this. The only way the overwhelming evidence could have been overlooked or tampered with was if it involved a member of the chain of command. The next question became, who was in that chain of command? It did not take long for attorney Watkins to identify a general with serious issues and that general was also the very first name that LaVena had listed, in the notepad that was sent home with her personal effects. The motive was established shortly thereafter. Private Johnson, inadvertently, during an early morning run, stumbled upon a love affair in progress involving a married commander who was previously ordered to cease the affair yet refused to do so and instead pushed to make the affair more clandestine.

The totality of evidence surrounding Private Johnson’s execution-style murder strongly suggests that the person who killed her is former four-star Army General Kevin P. Byrnes. He was third in seniority among the Army’s eleven generals at the time. Byrnes, who was appointed to his command position by President George W. Bush in November 2002, headed the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command (1st Cavalry Division), or TRADOC command. In this capacity, Byrnes supervised the recruitment and academic programs at thirty-three Army schools, from basic training to the war colleges.

Private Johnson met General Byrnes in July 2005, just a couple of days before her death. She had no way of knowing at the time that Byrnes was engaged in an extramarital affair with a civilian female, and had been ordered by General Peter J. Schoomaker, the Army’s Chief of Staff, to end the affair. Byrnes, who was married, willfully disobeyed Schoomaker’s order, and as stated previously, elected to make his love affair more clandestine. In doing so, Byrnes risked being court-martialed for disobeying Schoomaker’s lawful and direct order.

Private Johnson’s discovery of Byrnes’ continued adultery left him startled, afraid, and desperate. Byrnes snapped and became violent toward Private Johnson, who did not fight back because she was as shocked as he was and because Byrnes was her commander. During his assault on Private Johnson, Byrnes knocked some of her teeth backwards, broke her nose, fractured her neck, and inflicted other serious injuries on her body. Private Johnson was then dragged into a contractor’s tent where Byrnes staged the crime scene to make it look like Private Johnson had committed suicide. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, in consultation with President George W. Bush, fired Byrnes on August 8, 2005, just three weeks after Private Johnson’s death and a mere three months shy of Byrnes’ scheduled retirement date. The Army announced that it had relieved General Byrnes of his command for unspecified "personal conduct." Pentagon sources leaked off-the-record information to the media that Byrnes was fired for disobeying General Schoomaker’s order to stop his extramarital affair and on August 10, 2005, Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington published a story that focused on Secretary Rumsfeld’s firing of General Byrnes.

Ladies and gentlemen, the allegations here are explosive but again, the evidence pointing to Kevin Byrnes as the perpetrator of the brutal murder of an American soldier is overwhelming. He had the motive, means and training to pull it off. Where is Byrnes now? According to an article published by attorney Watkins in 2018, today, Kevin Byrnes lives comfortably in Huntsville, Alabama, employed as a top executive for Raytheon. However, absent an undisclosed Presidential pardon from George W. Bush, Byrnes' role in the murder of Private Johnson is subject to prosecution under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act of 2000.