WKYT.COM -- ST. LOUIS -- An Army representative who delivered news of a Fort Campbell soldier's death to her family in Missouri said she died from self-inflicted injuries but that her death was not a suicide, the woman's father said.
Army Pvt. LaVena L. Johnson, 19, died Tuesday near Balad, Iraq, from what the Army called noncombat-related injuries. The Army said the cause of death remained under investigation.
At the Pentagon, Maj. Elizabeth Robbins, Army spokeswoman for casualties, said late Wednesday that deaths are listed as noncombat-related "if the enemy forces were not involved" and "it was not part of doing combat duties." There are five major causes of deaths that can lead to such categorization: accident, illness, foul play, suicide or an act of God, such as lightning.Johnson, who was assigned to the 129th Corps Support Battalion based at Fort Campbell, Ky., would have turned 20 next Wednesday. She graduated from Hazelwood Central High School, near St. Louis, in 2004, where she was an honor roll student who had straight A's her senior year, her father John Johnson said.
"She was just a good kid," said her father, formerly a civilian personnel specialist for the military and now a consultant and author. "I used to call her Miss America." LaVena Johnson had received commendations from members of the Missouri Senate and Congress for her volunteer work and good grades, her family said. She played the violin in the school's orchestra. She was socially conscious and a member of a school group that focused on diversity issues. Johnson also volunteered for American Heart Association walks, donated blood and made sure she recycled. "You knew that this was a special young lady who was willing to get out in our society and make things happen," said Hazelwood Central principal Frank Smith. While a senior, Johnson decided to join the Army. Her family said she wanted to travel and wasn't quite ready to start college. Her mother tried to talk her out of the decision. She enlisted in September and joined the 129th Corps Support Battalion in Iraq in May. In regular phone calls home from Iraq, Johnson would try to keep her conversations upbeat. "She was a fun person," said LaKesha Johnson, LaVena's younger sister with whom the soldier was especially close. "She loved to tell jokes." Johnson was last home in April. LaKesha _ one of five children in the family _ decorated the house with a banner to welcome her big sister. The banner is still there. "I guess we will have to take this down," John Johnson said.LaVena Johnson was the first female soldier from Missouri to die in Iraq. More than 60 soldiers from Fort Campbell have died in the war.
==Another news story==
Facing South -- One of the suspicious deaths was that of U.S. Army Private LaVena Johnson in July 2005. The Army said Johnson died of a self-inflicted M-16 shot, but her parents were suspicious, since she called home daily and gave no impression of being upset. They were also concerned about bruising on her face, as well as a bullet wound that looked more like it had come from a pistol than an M-16 -- as well as the fact that someone had glued white gloves on her hands, which had been burned.
As Johnson's family and friends began collecting evidence through the Freedom of Information Act and other sources, their suspicions grew. It turns out the young woman's M-16 was found perfectly parallel to her body -- which was found inside a burning tent. A witness said he heard a gunshot and when he went to check found the tent on fire and a body inside. And then they found a CD of photographs:
The photographs revealed that Lavena, a small woman, barely 5 feet tall and weighing less than 100 pounds, had been struck in the face with a blunt instrument, perhaps a weapon stock. Her nose was broken and her teeth knocked backwards. One elbow was distended. The back of her clothes had debris on them indicating she had been dragged from one location to another. The photographs of her disrobed body showed bruises, scratch marks and teeth imprints on the upper part of her body. The right side of her back as well as her right hand had been burned apparently from a flammable liquid poured on her and then lighted. The photographs of her genital area revealed massive bruising and lacerations. A corrosive liquid had been poured into her genital area, probably to destroy DNA evidence of sexual assault.
Despite the bruises, scratches, teeth imprints and burns on her body, Lavena was found completely dressed in the burning tent. There was a blood trail from outside a contractor’s tent to inside the tent. She apparently had been dressed after the attack and her attacker placed her body into the tent and set it on fire.
Investigator records reveal that members of her unit said Lavena told them she was going jogging with friends on the other side of the base. One unit member walked with her to the Post Exchange where she bought a soda and then, in her Army workout clothes, went on by herself to meet friends and get exercise. The unit member said she was in good spirits with no indication of personal emotional problems.
The Army investigators initially assumed Private Johnson's death was a homicide and indicated that on their paperwork. However, shortly into the investigation, a decision apparently was made by higher officials that the investigators must stop the investigation into a homicide and to classify her death a suicide.
As a result, no further investigation took place into a possible homicide despite strong evidence available to the investigators.
Official website: http://www.lavenajohnson.com/