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Sister of Ga. teen in "gym mat death" injured in shooting

VALDOSTA, Ga. - The sister of Kendrick Johnson, the Georgia teen found dead inside a rolled-up gym mat in his high school two years ago, was injured in what police are calling an accidental shooting early Monday morning.

Authorities say 22-year-old Kenyetta Johnson was shot in the lower back while in a vehicle with three other people outside a Valdosta convenience store at around 2:30 a.m. Monday. The driver of the vehicle immediately transported her to a hospital where she was listed in stable condition, police say.

"Someone that she knows was in the vehicle with her and they were mishandling a weapon and it discharged," Valdosta Police Lt. Aaron Kirk told 48 Hours' Crimesider.

Kirk says the shooting is still under investigation and that charges could be filed. Police say witnesses to the incident were not cooperative initially and that investigators had not yet been able to locate the person who had been handling the gun at the time of the shooting.

Kenyetta's brother, Kendrick Johnson, was 17 when he was found dead inside a rolled-up gym mat in the gymnasium of his Valdosta high school in January 2013. The Lowndes County Sheriff's Office ruled the teen's death a freak accident, saying he fell head-first into an upright mat while trying to retrieve a shoe, and became trapped. An autopsy conducted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation agreed, citing asphyxiation as the cause of death.

Johnson's family, however, insists he was killed by schoolmates, who are accused by name in a $100 million wrongful death lawsuit Johnson's parents filed earlier this year. They also blame law enforcement and school officials for covering up the deed.

The wrongful death lawsuit alleges Johnson was attacked by two teenage brothers - the sons of a local FBI agent - who were "seeking revenge" after one of them had a fight with Johnson on a school bus a year earlier.

The brothers and their parents have filed a counter suit, arguing defamation.

A federal investigation into Johnson's death is ongoing. Almost a year and a half after the investigation was initiated, no findings have been released.

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