By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 20, 2023 Army Private LaVena Johnson was only 19-years-old at the time of her...

Next to securing a full and complete pardon in 1976 for Clarence Norris (the last known surviving “Scottsboro Boy”), my work in solving Private Johnson’s murder has been the second most satisfying accomplishment in my 45-year legal career. When I read an article three years ago about Private Johnson’s tragic death, I immediately knew something was not right about the circumstances surrounding her death. To this day, no one has challenged the factual findings in my Private J

On July 19, 2005, Army Private First Class LaVena Johnson died on a military base in Balad, Iraq amidst mysterious circumstances. All of the physical and forensic evidence available to military investigators suggested she was murdered. However, these investigators shamelessly chose to disregard this glaring evidence and classified her death as a suicide. The totality of evidence surrounding Private Johnson’s execution-style murder strongly suggests that her killer was General