{"id":429413,"date":"2026-01-24T03:29:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T03:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/429413\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T03:29:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T03:29:10","slug":"former-nfl-dt-kevin-johnsons-death-at-homeless-encampment-ruled-a-homicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/429413\/","title":{"rendered":"Former NFL DT Kevin Johnson\u2019s death at homeless encampment ruled a homicide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img alt=\"Defensive lineman Kevin Johnson of the Philadelphia Eagles runs downfield during a Nov. 26, 1995, game at RFK Stadium in Washington.\" fetchpriority=\"high\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-258118-scaled-e1769220429744-1024x683.jpg\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"responsive\" class=\"image-next-root\" style=\"border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;bottom:0;right:0;box-sizing:border-box;padding:0;border:none;margin:auto;display:block;width:0;height:0;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;min-height:100%;max-height:100%;object-fit:cover\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Article_ImageCaptionCredit__mkXi_ article-image-caption-credit Typography_body1__xfKuc inherit Typography_base__jzSqr\">Kevin Johnson accumulated 54 tackles and seven sacks across three NFL seasons in the mid-1990s. Otto Greule Jr. \/ Allsport<\/p>\n<p>Onetime Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Kevin Johnson was killed Wednesday in a violent attack at a homeless encampment, according to a Los Angeles County Medical Examiner\u2019s report.<\/p>\n<p>The medical examiner classified Johnson\u2019s cause of death as \u201cblunt head trauma and stab wounds,\u201d listing the manner as \u201chomicide.\u201d It remains under investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson played collegiately for Los Angeles Harbor College from 1989 to 1990 before transferring to Texas Southern University, where he competed from 1991 to 1992. The New England Patriots selected the Los Angeles native with a fourth-round pick in the 1993 NFL Draft but released him before the season began.<\/p>\n<p>After practice squad and offseason stints with the Minnesota Vikings and Oakland Raiders, the Philadelphia Eagles selected Johnson off waivers ahead of the 1995-96 season. He went on to play in 13 games, including two playoff games. The Eagles brought him back in 1996, with Johnson playing in 12 games, five of which he started. Philadelphia released him that December.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson re-signed with the Raiders and played in 15 games during the 1997-98 season but was released again in March 1998.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson accumulated 54 tackles, seven sacks and returned a fumble for a 37-yard touchdown across his NFL career. He later spent three years as a two-way lineman in the Arena Football League from 1998 to 2001. His time in the AFL included a win in ArenaBowl XII with the Orlando Predators.<\/p>\n<p>The medical examiner did not identify any significant conditions that contributed to Johnson\u2019s death.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kevin Johnson accumulated 54 tackles and seven sacks across three NFL seasons in the mid-1990s. Otto Greule Jr.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":429414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,1718,514,1747,82],"class_list":["post-429413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-nfl","tag-philadelphia-eagles","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/429414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}