The family of Demartravion “Trey” Reed, a 21-year-old Black student who was found hanging from a tree on the Delta State University campus, will look to conduct an independent and private autopsy, according to their attorney.
Announced by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, the family will seek to conduct an autopsy separate from the state as they have received “conflicting accounts and incomplete information about the circumstances of their death.”
The autopsy will reportedly be done as soon as the state medical examiner releases the body of the 21-year-old. It will be covered by the “Know Your Rights Camp Autopsy Initiative,” led by activist and athlete Colin Kaepernick.
The family will look to obtain all video footage involved in the investigation, according to Crump. Per the president of the campus African American Student Council, Jy’Quon Wallace, Reed was last seen by students upset on the phone. According to attorney Vanessa Jones, the campus should have had cameras that might have recorded video footage of Reed.
“Trey’s death evoked the collective memory of a community that has suffered a historic wound over many, many years and many, many deaths,” said Crump per a statement. “Peace will come only by getting to the truth. We thank Colin Kaepernick for supporting this grieving family and the cause of justice and truth.”
The announcement of the second autopsy comes as others continue to call for answers for Reed’s death.
Earlier last week, state officials claimed there was no evidence of foul play. Conducted on Sep. 17, the autopsy report marked his death as a suicide. With Mississippi’s history of racial violence, however, politicians and students are asking for transparency with the investigation, calling for a larger investigation into Reed’s death.
Last week, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss, released a statement emphasizing the need for the federal government to get involved in the case for the sake of impartiality in conducting the investigation.
“We must leave no stone unturned in the search for answers. While the details of this case are still emerging, we cannot ignore Mississippi’s painful history of lynching and racial violence against African Americans,” said Thompson in a press release. “Federal resources are critical in cases like this. The FBI has the tools and experience necessary to conduct a thorough, unbiased inquiry, and time is of the essence.”
In an Instagram post, the NAACP expressed similar sentiments, emphasizing the state’s history as well as the current political climate.
“While initial reports offered no evidence of ‘foul play’, you’d have to excuse our skepticism amidst growing racially motivated violence targeted at our communities across this nation,” said the NAACP. “So while we await more formal autopsy reports and information, we offer this piece of history with a level of certainty: Our people have not historically hung ourselves from trees…”
At Delta State University, where Black students make up approximately 42% of the 3,200 student body, attendees continue to express fear. The school has declared that there has been an increase in security on campus as the investigation continues.
