A Black man was found hanging from a tree in Mississippi, a state that has an abhorrent history of lynching Black men and boys and Blck women. Officials claim, Demartravion “Trey” Reed, died by suicide, not lynching, but not everyone accepts the official story because it keeps changing.

Reed was found hanging from a tree on campus, where he attended school at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi. But there is confusion about where his body was found. On the morning of September 15, deputies from the Grenada County Sheriff’s Department came to Trey’s family’s house and told them he was found dead in his dorm room bed. 

But a few hours later, Delta State’s own Chief of Police, Michael Peeler, told the world something completely different. He reported that Trey was found hanging from a tree in the middle of campus at 7:05 a.m.

“The preliminary report from the Bolivar County Coroner’s Office indicates no evidence of foul play,” said Delta State University President Dan Ennis. But Reed’s relatives had demanded an additional investigation into the hanging.

Jones Law Firm said it is representing Reed’s family and is launching its own investigation to determine how he died. The law firm said it is ordering an independent autopsy.

Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is footing the bill for a private autopsy of Reed. 

 One family member took to social media, saying not to believe rumors that are out there and that they are waiting for the facts to come out. “If you want to do anything for the FAMILY just say a PRAYER,” a Facebook post from Alexis S. Reed said in part. Some students have felt uneasy since Reed’s death, knowing that a fellow student died on campus, which is perhaps just as disturbing as what they do not know.

“Well, because I am a Black student, hearing that happened to another Black student, it really made me feel, it makes me feel unsafe,” said Delta State student Stacie Hoskins.

Classes resumed on Tuesday after being canceled on Monday.

The hanging has drawn national attention from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Both organizations are calling for increased scrutiny and thorough investigations.

Mississippi has been a hostile and dangerous state for Black men.

Some 581 lynchings took place in Mississippi between 1877 and 1950, a record for any state in the Union. 

White families would make a day of the lynching, often holding a picnic as Black men were lynched and hung from trees, even for speaking to a White woman or defending their home and property from hostile intruders.

The Equal Justice Initiative lists more than 4,000 Black men, women, and children who were lynched throughout the country from 1877 to 1950. 

Delta State’s enrollment last year was 2,624 students; 43% are Black.