This story happened in Dec 2008, a little over a year ago.
Billey Joe Johnson was a Junior RB from Mississippi and one of the TOP 5-7 RB prospects in the nation for the c/o 2010. Since he was a Junior and the season had just ended, I don't think Rivals had even attached stars to him yet, but from the looks of it and hearing the experts talk about the kid, he most likely would have been a 4 star, and a high 4 star at that. Personally - I liked his style. He was also a "country boy" at heart who got up early before school to hunt at 4 am.
This kid was ready to commit to Auburn. He would have been part of the class we are putting together at the moment. The class would have been even more dynamic. But thats just Football. This kid lost his life tragically and every time I think about this story I think what might have been. There is still a lot of controversy that surrounds his death and no one really seems to know 100% what really happened. Tragic indeed. RIP - BJJ
http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ys-johnson020509