Hello listeners, I'm your host Tamara, and this is Black Girl Gone, a true crime podcast.

On this episode of Black Girl Gone, we share the story of Lavina Johnson, a 19-year-old

young woman, when listed in the Army after she graduated from high school. Six weeks after

she arrived for her first tour of duty in Iraq, she was found in her tent with a gunshot

wound to the head. The Army ruled her death a suicide, but her autopsy revealed that something

else happened. Was her murder a cover-up? This is Lavina's story.

Lavina Johnson grew up in a tight-knit family. She was one of five children, and they lived

with their mom Linda and dad John, who was an Army veteran. Lavina grew up in Missouri,

and at a young age, she was described by her family as being really smart and very disciplined.

As soon as Lavina started school, she was a good student, who other children loved to

be around. In 5th grade, Lavina showed interest in political issues, and being such a compassionate

person who loved animals, Lavina at just 11 years old became a member of PETA. Lavina

was also a vegetarian, and had joined an organization that advocated for alternative ways to

consume meat. In high school, Lavina was really popular. She was a part of a lot of different

activities in high school, and she would be seen at sporting events with her father and

doing things with her sister, and she was well-known and well-liked. According to Lavina's

family, her initial plans were to go to college. And in preparation for this, she stayed on

the honor roll the entire four-year she was in high school.

Lavina had a list of things that she wanted to do with her life, but she had decided that

she was going to go to the army because she didn't want her parents to have to incur the

expense of her going to college at the same time as her sister, Laquisha, who was younger than her.

And that's the kind of daughter and person that Lavina was. And despite her parents' objections,

...