The ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Organ-Harvesting Episode Was Inspired by True Story

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit told a story about a tragic death and unapproved organ harvesting in Season 19, Episode 16. As is often the case with Law & Order episodes, a real-life story inspired the case.

The episode, entitled “Dare,” sees a young girl tragically dying in a gymnasium. Then without parent consent, a surgeon at the hospital harvested her organs to use on other children. The case echoes a real-life incident from 2013 in Valdosta, Georgia, where a young man died in a high school gym and questionable things happened to his organs.

CNN reports on Jan. 11 of that year, Kendrick Johnson was found dead inside a rolled-up gym mat in the Lowndes High School gymnasium. The initial autopsy claimed his death was accidental asphyxiation, implying he fell into the mat. Johnson’s family did not buy that reasoning and ordered an independent autopsy.

When the independent private pathologist began the second autopsy, he discovered Johnson’s organs were nowhere to be found. Instead, his body was stuffed with newspaper. Suspicion then turned to Harrington Funeral Home in Valdosta, Georgia, but the insisted they did not take or destroy the organs. They instead placed the blame on the GBI.

At the time, the funeral home owner Antonio Harrington said the organs “were destroyed through natural process” and “discarded by the prosecutor before the body was sent back to Valdosta.”

However, the GBI says they sent the organs with Johnson’s body. “The organs were placed in Johnson’s body, the body was closed, then the body was released to the funeral home,” GBI spokeswoman Sherry Lang told CNN.

Johnson’s family filed an now-withdrawn civil suit against multiple parties related to the case.

Outside of the organ scandal, the independent autopsy concluded that Johnson died from blunt force trauma. However, no criminal charges were ever filed in the case, even after authorities re-opened the case in 2021.

A U.S. DOJ representative said of the case, “After extensive investigation into this tragic event, federal investigators determined that there is insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that someone or some group of people willfully violated Kendrick Johnson’s civil rights or committed any other prosecutable federal crime.”

While there are many variations from the SVU “Dare” case, it is clear the circumstances surrounding Johnson’s death served as writers’ inspiration.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit returns to NBC with new episodes starting on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET. Past episodes are currently streaming on Peacock and Hulu.