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 candidate identified hanging from a tree at Delta State University in a event that has ignited strong emotions in a state with a history of racist violence The -year-old candidate was determined near the campus pickleball courts early Monday While police have mentioned 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 scrutiny at a news conference calling the death an isolated happening and insisting there were no operational threats to students and faculty Out of respect for those grieving we ask for continued patience and compassion as this examination proceeds Peeler informed reporters at the Delta State campus Friends and family of a deceased Delta State University aspirant gather outside to pray after a law enforcement briefing Wednesday Sept in Cleveland Miss AP Photo Sophie Bates The chief state physiological examiner was conducting an autopsy Wednesday and Peeler declared preliminary findings should be published in a day or two Peeler stated the evidence includes video footage but he would not say what it shows and where it came from citing the ongoing inspection Family members of the trainee called for more information from university leaders during a news conference on Tuesday Vanessa Jones an attorney for the family disclosed the trainee 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 described 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 commented the family also wants an independent autopsy performed Online rumors that the pupil was determined with broken limbs were disputed by Bolivar County Coroner Randolph Seals Jr In a announcement cited by local news outlets Tuesday Seals revealed his office conducted a preliminary examination and concluded the trainee did not suffer any lacerations contusions compound fractures broken bones or injuries consistent with an assault Seals did not straightaway 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 infection caused by blood-sucking insects spreading in US CDC says One of the country s the greater part distinctive car collections goes on sale in Chicago Multiple 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 detected miles from the Delta State campus Marquon McKinney reported he and other Black students at Delta State have been shaken by the death Everybody s upset right now McKinney noted adding that he feels that university executives 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 identified 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 scrutiny 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