A year after Casey Johnson’s murder, extended family can’t access teen’s ashes

ROCKINGHAM — Over a year ago, Joseph Ray Carroll and Michelle Lee Johnson were charged with the murder of 15-year-old Casey Johnson, and since that tragic day, the only opportunity the extended family has had to mourn his death was the vigil held at Richmond Senior High School in February 2021.

Bryan Jefferson, Casey’s uncle and the current guardian of Casey’s younger siblings, has been searching for a way to obtain his ashes, which he believes are located in the home that Casey and his siblings stayed in prior to the incident, owned by Carroll.

“To date, we can’t find an avenue that allows us or anybody willing to give a court order, for us to retrieve the ashes of my nephew,” Jefferson told the Daily Journal in an interview last week.

Casey’s biological mother, Michelle Lee Johnson, who was dating Carroll at the time of the incident, was arrested on Feb. 19, 2021 following an indictment by a grand jury. She is facing an unspecified murder charge.

Jefferson said that multiple conversations with District Attorney Reece Saunders, the Division of Social Services, family courts, and local law enforcement have resulted in zero pathways forward to retrieve the ashes. He added that they keep getting the same message from these entities — “It’s not in our jurisdiction.”

Chief of Police George Gillenwater said that he has been in contact with the family multiple times regarding this situation.

“There’s nothing that we can do,” Gillenwater said. “The courts are absolutely who would be able to give an answer in regards to that question.”

Saunders said he has no role in the property dispute relating to the ashes; his role in the case is strictly the prosecution of Carroll and Johnson for their alleged crimes. To his knowledge, ashes exist in a legal gray area.

“Unless the law has changed, ashes of a deceased person are not property in the sense most items are property,” Saunders said. “It’s kind of odd. It is what it is and I’m trying to do the right thing.”

In early February, Saunders received an unsigned letter including a list of personal items that the family wishes to obtain from the house. It’s not clear who wrote this letter, Saunders said it was unsigned but Jefferson disputes this. Casey’s ashes were not included on this list, according to Saunders, though Jefferson told the Daily Journal that the ashes have always been the primary goal for the family in conversations with local authorities, whether on this particular written list or not.

“On the Christmas list by [Casey’s siblings], the only thing they wanted was their brother’s ashes so they could bury him,” Jefferson said.

Saunders said that his office would add the ashes to the list which will then be sent to Carroll’s lawyer, Andy Cullers.

“I will be contacting all various parties to see if I can get an agreement to let them get their stuff,” Saunders said.

It’s unclear if Carroll has been resisting Jefferson’s efforts to obtain the ashes. An attempt to reach Cullers at a number listed online was unsuccessful.

Robby Hall, director of the Richmond County Department of Social Services, said that they’re restricted by confidentiality mandates to comment on the department’s contacts with Casey’s extended family.

“Regarding questions of DSS and claiming of remains, the agency only has legal authority over ‘unclaimed bodies’ for final disposition, all other matters would be handled through civil court,” Hall said in an email.

For the family, frustration is building as this dispute has deprived them of an opportunity to mourn together. They have not yet held a funeral for Casey, according to Jefferson.

“This is the second time in a matter of three years that these kids have had to start from scratch with nothing,” Jefferson said. “At this time, the support from the community as a whole continues to be there and it’s appreciated.”

Prior to moving in with Carroll, the family’s previous home had burned down.

“These kids had lost all of their possessions then, 14 months later, because of an abuser, the kids once again have lost all of their possessions,” Jefferson continued.

The guardianship of Casey’s two younger siblings remains murky. Jefferson has been granted legal guardianship of them in another state, but he’s been unable to get the same status in North Carolina. It’s unclear why he’s been unable to do so.

According to Jefferson, a consequence of him not being granted guardianship of Casey’s siblings was that he was not notified until 48 hours prior that a status conference related to the murder case had been moved up from February to January, causing Jefferson to not be able to attend.

“We continue to struggle to obtain guardianship due to inter-state issues and the DSS process,” Jefferson said. “We continue to plead with DSS to make the decision to give us rights to guardianship. We can’t get a straight answer on what the process is, how long it will take, where we are in the process.”

Casey’s older brother, Timothy Johnson, who is in the U.S. Army, has also been pushing for the family to get the ashes, but so far his efforts have been in vain.

“On Jan. 23, 2021, our family not only suffered the tremendous loss of my younger brother, but here today we are still fighting with the legal system so we can begin some type of healing process,” Timothy said. “Family members have made multiple requests to all lawyers involved, from the DSS Attorney’s to the Criminal Attorney’s and yet no progress or communication is made. Not only did the family have to fight to even get my [younger siblings] into a loving home outside of the state, Joe has stolen the chance of any healing or closure to begin around my brother’s terrible death.”