CLEVELAND – An independent autopsy has yet to be released for Demartravion “Trey” Reed, the student who was found dead on the Delta State University campus in September, and speculation continues to swirl on campus and online.

The initial examination by the Bolivar County coroner and the autopsy completed by the Mississippi medical examiner’s office concluded the death of the 21-year-old Black man was a suicide, and no foul play occurred.

The independent autopsy, conducted later, was paid for by civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick, a former NFL quarterback.

Reed’s body was found hanging in a tree. Some members of his family and activists say they believe he was lynched, and they point to Mississippi’s racist history of lynchings of Black people.

Jeremy Marquell Bridges, an activist

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