Chief says investigators have videos of Black student hanging from tree at Delta State University ...Middle East

CLEVELAND — Videos of a Black student found hanging in a tree at Delta State University early this week have been turned over to investigators, the campus police chief said Wednesday, but the chief did not say what the videos show.

Chief Michael Peeler said he could not answer several questions about the investigation into the death of 21-year-old Demartravion “Trey” Reed of Grenada, Mississippi. The tragedy swiftly captured the scrutiny of the state and the nation, with some speculating that this was another example of Mississippi’s racist history of lynching of Black people.

However, the chief stood by his earlier statements that there appeared to be no foul play. Peeler said he was the second officer from the Delta State Police Department on the scene after Reed was found, and he saw the body.

Bolivar County Coroner Randolph “Rudy” Seals Jr. said Monday that Reed had no broken bones and did not appear to have been assaulted.

Mississippi’s Chief Medical Examiner Staci Turner was conducting an autopsy of Reed’s body, and preliminary results should be released within two days, Peeler said Wednesday.

Delta State President Dan Ennis recognized that this case touched a nerve, and he defended the school from accusations of racism.

“Richard Wright said that history comes on us, it surges up and it’s fused and tangled. And so, I acknowledge that this imagery is fused and tangled in people’s identities,” said an emotional Ennis. “Sometimes we can’t unknot it. We can’t untangle it, but here is one of the best places to start to pick at that knot, and to acknowledge that situation and build off of it.”

Law enforcement presence on campus increased after several people made threatening calls to the university. However, Peeler emphasized that campus was safe.

“At this point we don’t have any credible threats that I’m aware of and law enforcement will let me know,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt when someone calls the office and says that this is a terrible place, and that people should be hurt.”

Ennis also addressed a statement from the attorney for Reed’s family that the university did not reach out to them. He said the university had been in contact with the next-of-kin Reed listed on a contact form. Ennis did not reveal who those people were, but said the university would cooperate with any investigation into Reed’s death. 

“I also acknowledge that there is a distinction between next-of-kin and family, and I acknowledge that both next-of-in and family are grieving,” he said.

Reed’s body was found hanging from a tree early Monday near the pickleball courts on campus. Reed’s race and the manner of his death triggered an outcry online about Mississippi’s history of racist violence and rattled the university’s community.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson called for the FBI to investigate Reed’s death. Reed’s family has retained lawyers Ben Crump and Vanessa Jones, and they are launching their own independent investigation.

Reed’s death is being investigated by police from Delta State and Cleveland, the Bolivar County Sheriff’s Department and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

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