Mississippi police await autopsy results for Black student found hanged at Delta State

By SOPHIE BATES Associated Press CLEVELAND Miss AP Mississippi police on Wednesday awaited autopsy results for a Black aspirant located hanging from a tree at Delta State University in a matter that has ignited strong emotions in a state with a history of racist violence The -year-old pupil was revealed near the campus pickleball courts early Monday While police have announced they saw no evidence of foul play his family is demanding answers and has hired prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump Campus police Chief Michael Peeler issued little new information about the assessment at a news conference calling the death an isolated situation and insisting there were no progressing threats to students and faculty Out of respect for those grieving we ask for continued patience and compassion as this study proceeds Peeler narrated reporters at the Delta State campus Friends and family of a deceased Delta State University novice gather outside to pray after a law enforcement briefing Wednesday Sept in Cleveland Miss AP Photo Sophie Bates The chief state diagnostic examiner was conducting an autopsy Wednesday and Peeler revealed preliminary findings should be circulated in a day or two Peeler explained the evidence includes video footage but he would not say what it shows and where it came from citing the ongoing inquiry Family members of the candidate called for more information from university bureaucrats during a news conference on Tuesday Vanessa Jones an attorney for the family disclosed the novice had just started classes at Delta State this fall and was full of life eager to be there There should have been cameras at the university that easily could enlighten us as to what happened Jones notified reporters adding From the moment he left his dorm room or entered that campus there should be surveillance of all of his actions FILE Students sit on a bench in front of Kent Wyatt Hall on Delta State University s Cleveland Miss campus on Sept AP Photo Rogelio V Solis File Jones disclosed the family also wants an independent autopsy performed Online rumors that the apprentice was discovered with broken limbs were disputed by Bolivar County Coroner Randolph Seals Jr In a report cited by local news outlets Tuesday Seals declared his office conducted a preliminary examination and concluded the novice did not suffer any lacerations contusions compound fractures broken bones or injuries consistent with an assault Seals did not promptly return phone messages from The Associated Press We recognize this is not only about facts Delta State President Dan Ennis commented Wednesday It s about emotions and about feelings and the way this loss and how it was discovered affects people s lives Related Articles FDA proposes ban on Orange B a food dye not used for decades Here s how to get tickets for the Olympics in Los Angeles Army veteran who burned American flag near White House pleads not guilty to federal charges Deadly complaint caused by blood-sucking insects spreading in US CDC says One of the country s most of distinctive car collections goes on sale in Chicago Plenty of social media posts about the episode have evoked a darker period in U S history when killings of Black people by white vigilantes inflicted racial terror in Mississippi and other parts of the Deep South They include the infamous lynching of Emmett Till whose body was discovered miles from the Delta State campus Marquon McKinney revealed he and other Black students at Delta State have been shaken by the death Everybody s upset right now McKinney declared adding that he feels that university officers are trying to downplay the death It s a lot of emotions going on McKinney disclosed his mother called him in the middle of a class on Monday to make sure he was OK before he had learned that someone had been located dead Located in the heart of the Mississippi Delta near the Arkansas state line Delta State had a fall enrollment of more than students of whom are Black Crump mentioned he plans to lead an independent inspection along with civil rights groups U S Rep Bennie Thompson a Mississippi Democrat has called for the FBI to investigate AP journalist Russ Bynum contributed from Savannah Georgia