Death of a black man raises questions

The death of Javion Magee, a black Chicago man whose body was discovered with a rope around his neck at the base of a tree in a rural North Carolina area, has raised numerous questions and concerns.

Accordingly ABC11, Magee was found dead on September 11 in an area near Vanco Mill Road, not far from where his truck was found. Investigators say Magee was in Henderson, North Carolina, where he was making a delivery to a local Walmart.

His family, who live in Chicago, is demanding more transparency and answers from the Vance County Sheriff's Office about his death. Sheriff Curtis R. Brame told the outlet on Sept. 13 that his office is investigating Magee's death.

According to Brame, the Vance County Sheriff's Office does not believe foul play was involved in Magee's death. Brame stated that Magee purchased the rope at the Walmart he was at before his death, but did not say anything further when questioned. ABC11 reporters, except to emphasize that Magee's death was not the result of a lynching.

“From what I understand, there are over 1,000 views on TikTok (accusing the sheriff's office) of not being transparent and not giving the family information, and that's not true,” Brame told reporters. “There is information that there is a lynching taking place in Vance County. There is no lynching taking place in Vance County. The young man was not dangling from a tree. He was not swinging from a tree. The rope was wrapped around his neck. It was not a noose. There was no knot in the rope, so it was not a lynching here in Vance County.”

Candice Matthews, the family's spokeswoman, said in a statement that the family does not accept Sheriff Brame's explanation.

“A lot of this stuff is unsmellable and that's a problem. The whole family is completely ashamed and hurt, really. They have a lot of questions and just want to know what happened to their loved one,” Matthews said.

Khalil Gay, a man who lives in Henderson, said the consequences of lynchings and murders in the South cannot be easily ignored.

“I mean, frankly, I think we have to recognize that, first of all, we live in the South and there is a long history of racism and racist acts there. And so people are obviously concerned about this,” Gay said. ABC11.

Preliminary autopsy results did not reveal any specific, definitive statements about Magee's death. According to the autopsy, there were no signs of defensive injuries or scarring on his arms or legs. In addition, there were signs of bleeding around his neck, which is usually a symptom of strangulation. Brame also stated that he would try everything possible to find out what happened, including a toxicology report, which could take a while to complete.

“We are checking every lead, every aspect of every piece of information. We are tracking the company to get its GPS data,” Brame said.

Much of the concern surrounding Magee's death stems from a woman claiming to be his cousin who posted a series of videos on TikTok. In the videos, she claimed that the family did not believe law enforcement's version of events. The woman, whose name was not released by police, Charlotte News & Observeralso said that law enforcement would not allow Magee's mother to identify her son and would not send her a photo of him.

The family has hired two national civil rights attorneys: Harry Daniels of Atlanta and Lee Merritt of Philadelphia. In a press release, Merritt said he and the family did not trust the police officers at their word.

“How can the police expect us to take their word for it when they won't even allow the family to see the body?” Merritt said.

In addition, North Carolina NAACP President Deborah Dicks Maxwell called for a full investigation in a statement of her own.

“We demand a full and transparent investigation to uncover the truth behind this tragedy. As a community, we cannot rest until we have clear answers.”

RELATED CONTENT: Black death row inmate pleads for re-sentence due to North Carolina's history of racial prejudice