From the archives: Heartbroken MS community grieves death of athlete Billey Joe Johnson
Editor’s note: The Sun Herald first published this story on Dec. 20, 2008. Some of the dates/events in the story speak to that time and are not of the current day.
Billey Joe Johnson Jr.’s football coaches are comforted to know he found salvation before his death.
During a memorial service at George County Middle School, assistant coach Darwin Nelson will speak about the young man he mentored.
The funeral will be held 12 days after Johnson died on the roadside of a gunshot wound. Rondell Sinclair, a former football player who has an inspirational story, will speak. A pastor will deliver a eulogy and then the microphone will be opened to those who want to share their memories of Johnson.
Back in October, coach Al Jones said, Johnson stepped into the football field office after a devotional with the youth pastor from First Baptist Church. He asked, “Coach, how do you know when God is dealing with you?”
The coach called in the pastor. The pastor and Johnson prayed. They spent about 20 minutes together. Johnson, Nelson said, accepted Christ.
The Friday before he died, Johnson proved he was one of the fastest human beings in Mississippi. The coaches clocked him running the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds.
They were close to the 17-year-old and so were their children, who were also juniors. Most members of the class had been together since sixth or seventh grade.
Johnson stayed with the Nelsons many nights from August to mid-October to save on gas. His home in the Benndale community was 30 miles from school. He accompanied the Nelsons to services at First Baptist Church and, with other football players, splashed around together in the family’s swimming pool.
On one occasion while they were playing a game, Johnson dunked two young men. A third teenager in the pool called out, “I give,” before Johnson even got to him.
That was the thing about the star running back. He was not only fast, he was strong. The school principal, Stewart Hurley, had played high school football and coached for 11 years. Johnson was the most talented football player he’d ever seen, Hurley said.
Johnson was an outgoing teenager with many friends, said one of his closest companions, quarterback R.J. Spivery. They liked to talk about their girlfriends and football, always football.
Spivery sent Johnson a text message on a Saturday night two weeks ago, asking if they were still going to a sports banquet with Coach Jones on Monday afternoon in Hattiesburg. The teenagers were being honored for their achievements. Johnson sent a text back saying the trip was still on. That was their last communication.
Spivery said he does not know what Johnson was doing or why that Monday before daybreak when a George County Sheriff’s deputy pulled him over. The case is still under investigation.
Nelson got a call at home from the coroner, whom he had known all his life.
“B.J.’s dead,” the coroner said. At first it did not dawn on Nelson the coroner meant Johnson because no one called him by his initials. “Who are you talking about?” Nelson asked. “Billey Joe,” the coroner said.
Nelson called the coach. They rode together to the scene. Johnson’s body had been covered with a sheet. They identified him. The coroner hadn’t called Johnson s family, Nelson said, because he did not know how to reach them.
The deputy who pulled over Johnson said the teenager had shot himself while the deputy was back in his patrol car running a license check. The coaches believe him. They hope Johnson’s death turns out to be an accident, but speculation and rumor have filled the vacuum of uncertainty.
“Just looking at that deputy that morning,” Nelson said, “he looked like he had observed something he didn’t want to observe. He was just shaken.”
The coaches didn’t linger at the scene. Their first obligation — the players and students — waited at the school.
Grief counselors and two memorial services, one at the First Baptist Church, have helped them cope. So has sharing memories of Johnson.
“When I address the players, we keep it on Billey Joe,” Jones said. “We don’t talk about how he died. I m sure they’ve got their opinions, but there’s no use discussing something we don t have answers to.”
A new podcast that launched on October 16, 2021, is re-examining the death of Billey Joe Johnson. Learn more here.
