VALDOSTA, Ga. — A South Georgia sheriff says he will give half a million dollars to anyone who can prove a Black teenager — whose body was found upside down in a rolled up gym mat at a local high school nine years ago — was murdered.

Lowndes County’s sheriff is offering a reward of $500,000 of his own money for information leading to an arrest in the death of Kendrick Johnson — to back up his recent study that concluded no crime was committed in the teen’s death.

Monday, Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk released a statement that he is putting up $500,000 of his own money for any information that would lead to an arrest in the case.

In the statement, he said that Kendrick “K.J.” Johnson’s parents have accused him of lying and continue to claim their son was murdered.

“Because of these statements, I am personally — with my own funds — offering a reward of one-half million dollars ($500,000) to anyone that comes forward with information that results in the arrest and conviction of a person for the alleged murder of Kendrick Johnson at Lowndes High School,” Paulk said in the statement.

The body of Johnson was found upside down in a vertically stored gym mat at Lowndes High School in January 2013. A state autopsy ruled the 17-year-old’s death accidental, taking place when he became stuck, upside down, upon crawling into the mat to retrieve an athletic shoe.

A federal review of the case ended in 2016 when the Department of Justice announced it had not found “sufficient evidence to support federal criminal charges.”

The Johnson family has maintained their son died of foul play. Johnson’s body was exhumed more than once for follow-up autopsies.

In the years since the teen’s death, the Johnson family has launched various lawsuits against dozens of individuals in state and federal courts. A lawsuit filed in Lowndes County Superior Court against dozens of defendants for $100 million was dropped in March 2016. A federal investigation found no conclusive evidence of foul play. A federal lawsuit was dropped when an attorney representing Johnson’s parents failed to meet filing deadlines.

Many conspiracy theories grew around the case, which remains popular on social media.

About 15 months ago, Paulk — who was not in office when Johnson died — began a review of documents from past investigations, including one by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He said that, as someone with no connection to the case, he could provide “unbiased facts.”

Paulk found no evidence a crime had been committed, though he did criticize many aspects of law enforcement’s methods during the past probes.

Paulk said he is willing to back the reward with his own money because of his confidence in the results of his case review.

Anyone wanting to try and claim the reward will have to face investigators in a “contact interrogation” at the sheriff’s office. “A phone call won’t do it,” the sheriff said.

He also urged others, including the Johnson family, to add to the reward.