September 21, 2025
Reed’s household, the Southern Poverty Regulation Heart, Benjamin Crump, and others have famous that the investigation into the loss of life of Reed is of concern to them.
On Sept. 19, nationwide civil rights legal professional Benjamin Crump introduced that the Colin Kaepernick Know Your Rights Camp Post-mortem Initiative will cowl the price of a second unbiased post-mortem for slain Delta State pupil Demartravion “Trey” Reed.
Based on USA At the moment, on Sept. 15, Reed was discovered deceased as his physique hung from a tree, and regardless of the historic parallels of the lynching of Black individuals, significantly Black males within the South, the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Workplace decided that Reed had hung himself and dedicated suicide. As well as, the Cleveland Police Division famous in a press launch that toxicology stories are ongoing and will take a number of weeks to be processed.
Reed’s household, the Southern Poverty Regulation Heart, Crump, and others have all famous that the investigation into the loss of life of Reed is of concern to them, and the household, via a press launch from Crump’s workplace, thanked Kaepernick for serving to to handle not less than one among their issues. The unbiased post-mortem, nonetheless, is on maintain till Reed’s physique has been launched by the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Workplace.
“Trey’s loss of life evoked the collective reminiscence of a group that has suffered a historic wound over many, a few years and lots of, many deaths. Peace will come solely by attending to the reality. We thank Colin Kaepernick for supporting this grieving household and the reason for justice and fact,” the press launch said.
In their very own assertion addressing each the hanging deaths of Reed and a white homeless man, Cory Zukatis, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, the SPLC urged for an intensive investigation into each deaths by regulation enforcement.
“We’re deeply saddened by the current tragedies the place people have been discovered hanging in Mississippi. One took the lifetime of a younger, Black man and the opposite of a person experiencing homelessness. Though one loss of life has been dominated a suicide and one other is undetermined, the large outcry from the area people over issues surrounding the lack of these two mustn’t go unaddressed,” Bryan Truthful, the interim president and CEO of the SPLC, stated within the press launch.
He continued, “The imagery of those two deaths instantly evokes the collective consciousness of those that are deeply conscious of Mississippi’s troubled previous. These occasions remind us how inequity continues to hazard lives. By committing to an intensive investigation and offering transparency round these tragedies, native leaders and regulation enforcement can carry a deeper sense of peace and luxury throughout a time of tragedy. Our state workplace can be monitoring their efforts intently.”
Along with the SPLC, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) additionally referred to as for a federal investigation into the loss of life of Reed, his assertion additionally famous how the historical past of Mississippi can’t be ignored whereas an investigation into his loss of life is performed by the authorities.
“We should depart no stone unturned within the seek for solutions. Whereas the main points of this case are nonetheless rising, we can’t ignore Mississippi’s painful historical past of lynching and racial violence towards African People,” Thompson famous.
Based on NBC Information, Reed’s former friends at Delta State additionally famous that they wish to know precisely what occurred to him. One pupil, a senior learning sports activities administration, Kolby Horace, stated that he simply needs anyone to get to the reality of what occurred.
“I simply need justice. I don’t know what it’s, however I need the reality to return out. I simply wish to know what the true reply is,” Horace advised the outlet.
In a separate assertion launched on Sept. 17, Crump famous that the household deserves to obtain an actual reply to their name for justice.
“Trey’s household deserves solutions they will belief. We can’t settle for rushed conclusions when the stakes are this excessive,” Crump stated. “By demanding the household be allowed to view any video and commissioning an unbiased post-mortem, we’re taking each step to uncover the reality about what occurred to Trey.”
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