Murder in a Military Tent: The Case of LaVena Johnson

Update: 2025-08-29

Description

In July 2005, 19-year-old Army Private First Class LaVena Johnson was found dead on a U.S. base in Balad, Iraq. The Army ruled it a suicide. Her family has spent nearly two decades saying otherwise.

From the very beginning, the official story didn’t add up. The gunshot wound was inconsistent with her M16 rifle. Her body showed burns, bruises, and evidence of sexual assault. Acid had been poured on her, gloves glued to her hands, and her body was discovered inside a burning contractor’s tent — details that somehow never made it into the Army’s report.

The Johnson family has fought relentlessly for answers, uncovering documents, autopsy reports, and crime scene photos that point to murder and a cover-up. But nearly twenty years later, the case remains closed, stamped as “suicide.”

This episode looks at who LaVena was, what really happened to her in Iraq, and why her family refuses to let the truth be buried.

Sources:

https://exhibits.stanford.edu/saytheirnames/feature/lavena-johnson

https://thesource.com/2014/01/21/justice-for-lavena-johnson-raped-murdered-or-suicide-the-evidence-says-one-thing-u-s-military-says-another/

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-mar-08-na-women-soldier-suicides8-story.html

https://www.stlpr.org/government-politics-issues/2015-07-19/10-years-later-a-soldiers-family-still-grieves-and-questions-the-armys-version-of-her-death

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-silent-truth-document_b_782798

https://www.ntdaily.com/opinion/deaths-of-lavena-johnson-and-others-spotlight-systemic-abuse-within-military/article_6204f0d6-ec3e-5f38-9f52-d3e74e0bf875.html

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