Community mourns and honors life of Justin Johnson on his 17th birthdayJustin Johnson, a Central Dauphin student who died on Friday, was supposed to celebrate his 17th birthday on Tuesday.His friends say they only expected around 15 to 20 people to show up, but those numbers quickly rose to around a hundred.“Where we come from, it’s kind of rough down there, so he wanted a better life,” his friend said.
“I just thought he was really funny,” said his friend Dillinger Kepner. “I was like, ‘dang I really got to get to know him more,’ so I just started talking to him and we became really close friends.” Another of Johnson’s friends stated, “JJ was really a good mentor to me. You know, I didn’t know him before the weight room, but we really connected during football.”
According to county officials, Johnson's official cause of death was ruled to be complications of sickle cell disease. Justin Johnson's family, along with their attorney, will be making comments Wednesday afternoon about his tragic death.