The death of a Black student found hanging on Delta State University’s campus in Mississippi this week has been ruled a suicide, the county coroner said Thursday.
The body of Demartravion “Trey” Reed, 21, was found Monday morning hanging from a tree near the university’s pickleball courts, campus police Chief Michael Peeler announced earlier this week.
The incident raised questions by loved ones and led the university president to acknowledge that the scene and image could be upsetting to some students, given the history of racial violence in the Jim Crow South.
{snip}
“I condemn the rumors circulating regarding his death,” Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell said in the news release.
Authorities had previously said no foul play was suspected in the death.
“Based on the preliminary examination, we can confirm that the deceased did not suffer any lacerations, contusions, compound fractures, broken bones, or injuries consistent with an assault,” said Bolivar County Coroner Randolph “Rudy” Seals Jr. in a written statement earlier this week.
{snip}
Family members of Reed retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump, his office announced Tuesday.
“We cannot accept vague conclusions when so many questions remain,” Crump said in a statement. “I stand with this family, and I will lead a team of civil rights leaders and organizations in pursuing transparency and answers for Trey’s family.”
Crump is demanding that all video footage related the death investigation be shown to the family.
The family will commission its own independent autopsy, Crump said, to be paid for by the Autopsy Initiative, part of the Know Your Rights Camp organization founded by former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
“Trey’s death evoked the collective memory of a community that has suffered a historic wound over many, many years and many, many deaths,” Crump said in a statement released Friday. “Peace will come only by getting to the truth.”
{snip}
The post Death of Mississippi University Student Found Hanging on Campus Ruled a Suicide appeared first on American Renaissance.
American Renaissance
