Maeve Bidonde, Staff Writer
Last week a 21 year old college student named Demartravion “Trey” Reed was found dead hanging from a tree at Delta State University in Mississippi. The police found no signs of foul play and his family hired a prominent civil rights attorney named Ben Crump to help them find answers. The autopsy showed that Reed passed away from suicide but final toxicology reports won’t be ready for a few more weeks.
According to NPR, Mississippi was one of many states in the deep south that had numerous lynchings which spread fear among African Americans during that time. Mississippi also holds in its history the lynching of Emmett Till who’s body was found 30 miles from the Delta State Campus. Several black students on campus including Marquon McKinney have said that they are shaken by the death saying “Everybody’s upset right now, It’s a lot of emotions going on.”
According to People Magazine several concerns have been brought up about how the case was handled thus far. Crump said that Reed’s family are challenging the autopsy results and Colin Kaepernick’s “Know Your Rights Camp Autopsy Initiative” will cover the cost of a private autopsy for the family. Another lawyer for the family, Vanessa J. Jones, said that the family was informed that Reed was found dead in his bed in his dorm by The Grenada County Sheriff’s Department. At a press conference Delta State’s Director of Public Safety Mike Peeler was asked about the disparity of where Reed’s body was found. Peeler said he did not know about any calls to Reed’s grandmother.
Crump stated that he and other civil rights leaders will ensure that the family gets a thorough and transparent investigation and will refuse to accept vague answers when they still have so many questions left to ask. According to People Magazine Crump also said that Reed was “full of promise and warmth, deeply loved and respected by all who knew him.”
NBC News states that several families of other black men found hanging and said to have died by suicide are also starting to question the official results of the autopsy. Mtume Mathews and Jy’Quon Wallace President and Vice President of Delta State’s African American Student Council have discussed organizing a vigil in Reed’s honor. Wallace said “Everybody’s trying to cope a little differently and trying to get through it, We’re also trying to move in a way where we acknowledge the fact that he was a student. That he was another one of us.” Mathews added to that saying “It’s just that we really want answers, That’s why a lot of people are fearful in this moment.”
Some parts of what happened on September 15th, the day Demartravion “Trey” Reed died, remain unclear, and the family’s attorneys will continue to fight to get those answers and give the family some closure in this difficult time.
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