This story features a discussion of death and racist violence, such as lynching. This is a developing story and will be updated as more news is obtained.
On the morning of September 15, 21-year-old Demartravion “Trey” Reed was found hanged on the campus of Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi. University officials have said they’ve found no evidence of foul play in Reed’s death, and, on the day Reed’s body was discovered, police said there was no threat to campus safety. An autopsy publicized three days later ruled the death a suicide; now former athlete and criminal justice advocate Colin Kaepernick is funding a second autopsy, according to Ben Crump, one of the attorneys representing Reed’s family.
In the days since Reed’s body was found, some people and organizations have expressed concerns about the way officials have characterized his death. A local investigation is reportedly ongoing, with assistance from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. US Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) is among those who have called for a federal investigation into the case. “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 said in a statement issued on the 16th. “My deepest condolences and prayers are with Trey’s family during this difficult time.” In a separate statement released the same day, the Mississippi Black Legislative Caucus said it was “deeply concerned” and “closely watching developments” in the case.
Meanwhile, according to DSU’s president, the university has received threats in subsequent days. Some Black students at the school — where the student population was about 42% Black as of fall 2024 — have expressed fear following the discovery of Reed’s body. "Because I am a Black student, hearing that happened to another Black student, it really made me feel, it makes me feel unsafe," DSU student Stacie Hoskins told local ABC affiliate 16 WAPT News.
Others online saw in the story “a painful echo of the many lynchings of Black men in Mississippi’s past,” wrote the Mississippi Free Press. As the AP noted in its coverage, Cleveland, Mississippi, is about 30 miles from the site where many locals believe Emmett Till's body was recovered from a river after he was lynched in 1955.
What happened to Trey Reed?
We don’t know yet exactly what happened. Reed, a new student at Delta State University originally from Grenada, Mississippi, was found unresponsive near the university’s pickleball courts at about 7 a.m. on September 15, per university police. Reed’s relatives were initially told that his body was found in his dorm room, according to Vanessa Jones, an attorney for the family.
The president of the campus’s African American Student Council told the Mississippi Clarion Ledger that he believes he saw Reed in a disagreement over the phone the night before his body was discovered. "That previous night, my roommate and I were about to go get some food, and I saw Trey sitting out there (in front of Blansett Hall) by himself on the phone. I asked him if he was OK. He looked up at me and then just looked down at his phone and didn't say anything. I didn't really press him, if he didn't want to talk,” Jy'Quon Wallace told the outlet. He continued:
During a press conference later on the 15th, university police chief Michael Peeler said there was no evidence of foul play or a threat to campus safety; regardless, classes were cancelled, before reportedly resuming the following day. Also on the 15th, the Bolivar County coroner released a statement saying, “At this time, there is no evidence to suggest the individual was physically attacked before his death.”
In a separate press conference the next day, Jones claimed the family was not provided with a copy of the initial coroner’s report prior to it being made public. Recounting details about Reed during that September 16 press conference, which was hosted by the family, his uncle said, “When I talked to him, he’d always tell me that he had a plan for his life, and many things he wanted. One thing he said [is that] he wanted to be a truck driver. He wanted to go to college and be a truck driver. Because that’s what I was, for nearly 30 years, and that’s what he wanted to be.”
An autopsy conducted by the Mississippi State Medical Examiner's Office released on September 18 ruled the death a suicide via hanging, noting that a toxicology report would not be available for two to four more weeks. “As part of the investigation, all files and investigative material have been turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and The US Attorney Office for review and we have been in contact with them the entire time of this investigation,” reads the statement, in part, from the Cleveland Police Department.
In a quote in the statement, Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell “condemn[ed]” the “rumors circulating” around Reed’s death, seemingly referencing speculation that the death was not a suicide. The statement concludes by stating the investigation into the case is still actively underway.
The same day Reed was found, Cory Zukatis, a 35-year-old white homeless man, was found hanging from a tree in Vicksburg, Mississippi, about 100 miles away from DSU. On September 16, the local coroner reportedly declined “to speculate about whether foul play was involved” in Zukatis’s death in response to an inquiry from the Mississippi Free Press. The local police captain has said law enforcement does not believe the two deaths are related, according to The Vicksburg Post.
How has the university responded?
On the 17th, during another university press conference, DSU president Daniel Ennis told the media, "The preliminary report from the Bolivar County coroner’s office indicates no evidence of foul play." Ennis also said DSU had “increased law enforcement” on campus because of the threats the university had received following the discovery of Reed’s body.
Students from the Student Government Association and the African American Student Council planned to host a candlelit vigil for Reed on campus the evening of September 18.
What’s next?
On the 16th, prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump announced that he would be working with the Reed 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. We cannot accept vague conclusions when so many questions remain,” wrote Crump in a statement shared on social media.
Meanwhile, Jones has criticized the response of both the university and the Bolivar County coroner’s office, saying during the family’s September 16 news conference, “The media knew about Trey’s death before the family did.”
Crump said in a September 17 statement that they would be seeking an independent autopsy. The day before, Jones had said during the family’s press conference, "We will seek answers independently from Delta State University and from the coroner's office and, if need be, independent from the state coroner's office because we need answers as to what happened to Trey Reed. Were there cameras? There should have been cameras at the university that could easily enlighten us to what happened in the early morning of September 15, 2025."
Jones continued, "We're not going to point fingers at anybody. We're not going to call anybody any names. All we want is answers."
On September 19, Crump announced that Colin Kaepernick would finance a second autopsy via Kaepernick’s “Know Your Rights Camp Autopsy Initiative,” and that the process would begin once the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s office had released Reed’s body.
“Trey’s death evoked the collective memory of a community that has suffered a historic wound over many, many years and many, many deaths. 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,” Crump said in a statement.
In a post on Instagram, the NAACP weighed in:
