— Mississippi police on Wednesday awaited autopsy results for a Black student found hanging from a tree at Delta State University, in a case that has ignited strong emotions in a state with a history of racist violence.
“We recognize this is not only about facts,” Delta State President Dan Ennis said Wednesday.
They include the infamous lynching of Emmett Till, whose body was found 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the Delta State campus.
Marquon McKinney said he and other Black students at Delta State have been shaken by the death.
Located in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, near the Arkansas state line, Delta State had a fall 2024 enrollment of more than 2,600 students, 42% of whom are Black.
Louisville, Mississippi. In a case that has sparked intense emotions in a state with a history of racist violence, Mississippi police on Wednesday awaited the results of an autopsy on a Black student who was discovered hanging from a tree at Delta State University.
The 21-year-old student was discovered early on Monday close to the campus pickleball courts. His family is seeking answers and has enlisted the help of well-known civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, despite the police claiming they did not witness any signs of foul play.
At a news conference, campus police chief Michael Peeler described the death as an “isolated incident” and insisted that there were no current threats to faculty and students, providing little new information about the investigation.
Peeler told reporters on the Delta State campus, “We ask for continued patience and compassion as this investigation proceeds out of respect for those grieving.”.
Peeler stated that initial results should be made public within a day or two of the chief state medical examiner’s autopsy, which was underway Wednesday.
In reference to the ongoing investigation, Peeler stated that the evidence includes video footage, but he would not specify what it depicts or its source.
Crump said in a statement on Wednesday that any video police have collected should be made available to the student’s family. Along with civil rights organizations, he said, he also intends to lead an investigation that will include an independent autopsy.
Crump declared, “We are making every effort to find the truth about what happened.”.
On Tuesday, during a news conference, family members also pushed university officials for additional information. The student had just begun classes at Delta State this fall and was “full of life, eager to be there,” according to Vanessa Jones, another family lawyer. “.”.
“The university should have had cameras that could easily have provided us with information about what transpired,” Jones told reporters, adding that all of his activities should have been monitored from the time he left his dorm room or stepped onto the campus. “.
Bolivar County Coroner Randolph Seals Jr. denied online reports that the student was discovered with broken limbs. Seals said his office performed a preliminary examination and determined the student did not sustain any lacerations, contusions, compound fractures, broken bones, or injuries consistent with an assault, according to a statement that was cited by local news outlets on Tuesday.
Associated Press phone messages were not immediately answered by Seals.
Dan Ennis, president of Delta State, stated on Wednesday, “We understand this is not just about facts.”. “It concerns feelings and emotions, as well as the impact this loss and its discovery have on people’s lives. “..”.
Many social media posts about the case have evoked a darker period in U. S. the period in Mississippi and other Deep South states when racial terror was caused by white vigilantes killing Black people. For instance, Emmett Till’s body was discovered 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the Delta State campus, the scene of the notorious lynching.
According to Marquon McKinney, the death has shaken him and other Black Delta State students.
“Everybody’s upset right now,” McKinney said, adding that he believes the death is being minimized by university officials. “A lot of emotions are present. “..”.
McKinney said that before he found out that someone had been found dead, his mother had called him during a Monday class to check on him.
With more than 2,600 students enrolled as of fall 2024, 42 percent of whom are Black, Delta State is situated close to the Arkansas state line in the center of the Mississippi Delta.
U. S. . Rep. Mississippi Democrat Bennie Thompson has demanded that the FBI look into the matter.
