North Carolina police have denied lynching allegations after a Black man was reportedly found dead last Wednesday with a rope around his neck.
Javion McGee, 21, a delivery truck driver from Illinois, was found seated at the base of a tree in Vance County with a rope wrapped around his neck. WRAL reported that authorities were able to identify the body as McGee because a truck found in a nearby parking lot contained his phone and ID.
The News & Observer reported that near McGee’s feet was ripped paper which showed a brand of blue rope and Walmart.com. The information on the paper led detectives to a Walmart in Henderson, where they determined used the self-checkout to pay for the rope at 6:20 p.m. on September 10, a day before he was found dead.
“The decedent displayed no visible signs of assault or any outside trauma to the body,” a warrant detailed.
Additionally, the family’s spokesperson, Candice Matthews, told WRAL that law enforcement told the family that McGee died of suicide. However, Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame denied claims that they ever said McGee’s death was a suicide.
“If I thought that anyone, regardless of their race, would lynch in Vance County, I would have it all over national news,” he said, denying claims of a noose being involved in McGee’s death.
Anyone with information regarding McGee’s death can call the Vance County Sheriff’s Office at 252-738-2200 or Henderson-Vance Crime Stoppers at 252-492-1925.
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[Feature Photo: Javion McGee/WRAL]
