Who was LaVena Johnson? Biography and Wiki

LaVena Johnson born LaVena Lynn Johnson, was a Private First Class in the United States Army whose death, was officially ruled a suicide, her nature of death attracted international attention amid allegations that her death was the result of rape, with which mace was allegedly involved, and murder.

LaVena Johnson Education

At the age of five, LaVena attended Keeven Elementary School. When she was in the fourth grade, LaVena began to train to play the violin. She did her practices every single night because she always craved to be excellent at everything she did.

By the time she got to eight grade, she had performed in numerous school concerts. When she was in the fifth grade, her Science project was the best and it won honors all the way to the State level. LaVena also began to run track. She never joined to compete, she just choose to run to stay in good shape.

LaVena additionally took an active part in a number of school activities like helping to host a number of after school ones. From there she went to Hazelwood Junior High School. Throughout her two years, she was involved in a number of school activities.

They included winning the Student Volunteer Group Award, DARE Certificate of Achievement Award, and Student Citizenship club member, which won her a certificate recognition from Congressman William Lacy Clay. It was during this period that she obtained the reputation of being a dependable student, which earned her praises from within and beyond in the form of certificates from most of her teachers.

By that time, she had learned to play the violin like a pro and played in several school junior high concerts. In lieu of being well-loved by both students and teachers, she was part of the honor roll both years and was selected to The Hawks Sigma Cum Laude club.

College and US Army

LaVena graduated from Hazelwood Senior High school in May of 2004 as an honor roll student, with only two Bs and the rest all As her senior year. Instead of enrolling in college in September, LaVena enlisted to join the US Army. She went through Basic Training at Fort Jackson in South Carolina for eight weeks.

On the Graduation day, her parents were told by her Drill Sergeants they could tell LaVena was brought up in a disciplined home because she was mentally robust she was often used as a role model to both female and male soldiers. In May of 2005, she was assigned to the 129 Corp Support Battalion and sent to service a tour in Balad Iraq.

LaVena was now a Private First Class in the United States Army stationed in Balad, Iraq. She served in the communications building and used to write home often to update her parents on her experience in Iraq.

Unknown to her parents, their daughter had been sexually assaulted and was receiving treatment for contracting an STD. On July 17, LaVena called home with the good news that she was coming home early for Christmas and was looking forward to decorating the tree and spending time with the rest of her family.

On July 19, 2005, just a few days after their call, the Johnson family got a visit from a soldier. He was there to inform them that LaVena had passed away, adding that their daughter had taken her own life, which shocked her father as unusual, as he had just talked to her days before, and nothing appeared to have explained her taking her own life.

As more extra reports came in about LaVena’s cause of death, her parents began to get a sharper picture of the incidents that ensued that day. LaVena got off from her duties sometime between 4 and 5 p.m. but never reached her physical training appointment. The Army alleged that LaVena had met up with a male soldier, the pair stayed together for around 4 hours in the soldiers’ room, then both proceeded to the shopping area, before calling it a night and both leaving their separate ways.

At 1:20 a.m. in the morning, her dead body was spotted in a contractor’s tent in a pool of blood with her hand shielding her face. Close to her body was an M16 rile and unusual scattered papers.

After an autopsy was done, LaVena’s death was officially ruled a suicide by the Department of Defense. The Army maintained she had destroyed letters from her boyfriend at the time and then committed suicide by firing an M-16 automatic rifle into her mouth.

The Army advised the family to have a closed casket funeral. Against their preferences, the family decided to proceed with an open-casket funeral and it was here where her father started seeing several inconsistencies with the Army’s story. For one, her nose seemed to have been broken, and her lips cut.

The only sign of a gunshot wound was a tiny bullet hole on the left side of her forehead, but the Army informed them that she had shot herself in the mouth with an M-16 rifle. The entry wound only looked like it came from a 9MM, not an M-16 rifle as they were told.

Johnson’s gloves had been glued onto her hands, which was not a normal occurrence. When her father finally got the autopsy report several months later, he found more suspicious information.

He realized that no rape kit was performed and no fingernail scrapings were ever taken from her body. It was obvious that the Army’s medical examiner who carried the autopsy had already concluded the death was a suicide.

At this point, the family settled on hiring their own criminal investigator to look into the mystery-filled case. After several months of back-and-forth with the Army, the family was eventually given the case documents, which had original color crime scene photos.

In the photos it showed that LaVena had grinding damage to her face, matching someone who had been hit with a blunt object. Her nose was also broken, she had a black eye and her teeth were loose, and some type of acidic liquid had been emptied into her genitals, most reasonable assumption was to destroy any DNA evidence.

The gunshot wound was also discrepant with suicide. Mr. Johnson did not believe his 5-foot-1 daughter’s arms were long enough to pull the trigger of an M-16 put between her legs, as it was described in the Army’s report.

The Army also stated the reason they never did a rape kit was that it did not look like there was any evidence of a struggle.

To this date, LaVena’s family is still asking for answers from the Army. Even though there was no suicide note, there was no recovered bullet, and also no significant gunshot residue on her hands was found, the Army maintains that she was depressed and deranged days before she met her killer and that her death was a suicide.

LaVena was the first Black woman soldier to die while serving in Iraq.

Kevin Byrnes Involvement

According to Donald V. Watkins,

she was murdered, execution-style; (b) the murderer was General Kevin P. Byrnes: (c) the murder weapon was Byrnes’ 9MM pistol; (d) the M16 rifle “found” at the crime scene was not the one issued to Private Johnson; (e) Private Johnson’s fingerprints were not on the M16, which was “planted” at the scene after her death; (f) nobody’s fingerprints were on the M16 even though it was touched by one or more first responders; (g) there was no gun powder residue on Private Johnson’s hands; (h) General Byrnes continued his extramarital affair with a female contractor after he received a direct ordered from the Army’s Chief of Staff to end it; (i) Private Johnson inadvertently encountered General Byrnes engaging in the very romance he had been ordered to stop; (j) Private Johnson’s discovery of Byrnes’ continued adultery left him startled, afraid, and desperate; (k) General 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 TRADOC commander; (l) Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was briefed by Army officials on General Byrnes’ role in Private Johnson’s murder; (m) Rumsfeld and the CENTCOM general for Iraqi Operations subsequently gave President George W. Bush a classified briefing about Private Johnson’s murder and the situation with General Byrnes; and (n) Rumsfeld fired Byrnes as an Army general three weeks after Private Johnson’s murder and three months prior to his scheduled retirement date.

LaVena Johnson Age at Death

She was born on July 27, 1985, in Florissant, Missouri, United States. she was murdered on July 19, 2005, aged 19 at Balad, Saladin Governorate, Iraq.

LaVena Johnson Family, Parents, and Siblings

She was the daughter of John H. Johnson, Ph.D. and Linda D. Johnson, she had three siblings: John, JayVince, Jermaine, LaKesha.

LaVena Johnson Facts

Here are some facts you should know about LaVena Johnson.

• Full Name: LaVena Lynn Johnson
• Also Known As LaVena Johnson
• Age: 19 years (2004)
• Date of Birth: July 27, 1985
• Place of Birth: Florissant, Missouri, United States
• Date of Death: July 19, 2005 (aged 19)
• Place of Death: Balad, Saladin Governorate, Iraq
• Nationality: American
• Education‎: Hazelwood Senior High school
• Father’s Name: John H. Johnson, Ph.D.
• Mother’s Name: Linda D. Johnson
• Siblings: 3
• Profession: Army Officer
• Allegiance: United States
• Service/branch: United States Army seal United States Army
• Years of service: 2003–2005
• Rank: Private First Class (PFC)
• Awards: Army Good Conduct Medal, Army Commendation Medal

Frequently Asked Questions About LaVena Johnson

Who was LaVena Johnson?

LaVena Johnson was a Private First Class in the United States Army whose death, was officially ruled a suicide, her nature of death attracted international attention amid allegations that her death was the result of rape, with which mace was allegedly involved, and murder.

How old was LaVena Johnson?

She was 19 years old and was supposed to celebrate her 20th birthday in days. She was born on July 27, 1985 and was murdered on July 19, 2005.