CLEVELAND, Miss. — A Black student found hanging from a tree at a Mississippi college caused administrators to cancel classes on Monday and raised fears in the state.
However, police said there’s no sign of foul play and no danger to students.
The body of Demartravion “Trey” Reed, of Grenada, was found on the Cleveland campus of Delta State University on Sept. 15, university officials shared in a statement.
Delta State University Director of Public Safety Mike Peeler said the body was found hanging near the pickleball courts Monday morning by a staffer.
Social media posts have alleged that Reed had two broken legs and other injuries that would have prevented him from hanging himself, according to the Clarion Ledger.
Bolivar County Coroner Randolph Seals Jr. disputed the rumors that Reed had broken bones. Seals said he found no evidence consistent with assault.
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Civil rights attorney Ben Crump has since been retained by Reed’s family.
“Trey Reed was a young man full of promise and warmth, deeply loved and respected by all who knew him. His family and the campus community deserve a full, independent investigation to uncover the truth about what happened,” he wrote in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. ”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.”
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, called for the FBI to investigate.
“The FBI has the tools and experience necessary to conduct a thorough, unbiased inquiry, and time is of the essence,” Thompson said in a statement.
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Later that same day, the body of a 35-year-old homeless man, Cory Zukatis, was found hanging from a tree in a wooded area of Vicksburg, Mississippi, further stirring fears.
Warren County Coroner Doug L. Huskey told the Mississippi Free Press on Tuesday morning that Zukatis was a homeless white male.
“He is homeless. I talked to his family,” Huskey said. Police would not say whether they suspect foul play.
Numerous social media posts about the case evoked a darker period in U.S. history when killings of Black people, almost exclusively at the hands of white male vigilantes, inflicted racial terror in Mississippi and other parts of the Deep South, the Associated Press said.
The Delta State campus in Cleveland is only about 30 miles from a site closely associated with the infamous lynching of Emmett Till. A sign at the Tallahatchie River landing near Glendora commemorates the discovery 70 years ago of Till’s mutilated body in the water.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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