Black people are being found hanging from trees. Why are officials so quick to call it suicide?
TheGrio...
Tasia Fortune’s death is the latest in a string of cases across the country, drawing scrutiny over how officials investigate Black deaths.
In recent weeks, Black communities have noticed a disturbing pattern of Black people dying in mysterious ways, and then local officials jumping to early conclusions about the causes of death. In addition to cases like Nolan Wells, Daniel Erving, and Tyler Smith, who were found dead near bodies of water, this year, a number of Black bodies have reportedly been found hanging from trees across the country.
Most recently, 29-year-old Tasia Fortune was found hanging from a tree in the backyard of a reportedly abandoned home in Jackson, Mississippi. While officials investigate her cause of death, Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, is adamant that her daughter’s death was not a result of self-harm.
“She did not do this to herself. I know my daughter, and she did not do this to herself.” Spivey told ABC News. “This has just devastated us. Tasia was strong-minded; she was full of laughs and love.”
Spivey’s denial of suicide speculation is particularly important considering the trend of local officials labeling these kinds of deaths as self-harm. In 2025, when Trey Reed, 25, 25-year-old, was found hanging from a tree at Delta State University in Mississippi, and Tory Medley, 39, was found hanging from a tree at the Brookfield Hills Golf Course in Wisconsin, local officials were quick to determine their causes as suicide despite family members and community advocates pushing for independent investigations with suspicions of lynchings, escpecially in the south which has a long history of racial discrimination.
As previously reported by theGrio, a study published in February 2026 did an investigation into modern-day lynching cases in the US. The “Crimson Record” report published by JULIAN found that over 70 modern-day lynching cases have taken place across TX, LA, MS, AL, TN, GA, and FL since 2000. Defining a modern-day lynching (MDL) as “a multiple perpetrator homicide, targeting a group or individual, driven by race, gender identity, or other bias with the intent of causing community terror or carrying out an extrajudicial homicide for a perceived threat or wrongdoing,” experts noted that lynching is “one of the hardest hate crimes to prove,” and is often ruled as a suicide initially.
“A Crimson Record exposes the long-buried truth about modern-day lynchings, calling these crimes exactly what they are despite systemic attempts to erase and deny them,” said JULIAN founder Jill Collen Jefferson. “Lynching has never disappeared — it has adapted, hidden behind silence and indifference.”
And among the findings, Mississippi reported the highest number of modern-day lynchings with 20 cases, a trending uptick that has been flagged since 2021 and echoes elements of the state’s violent history.
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Additionally, Julian’s research found that Mississippi also has the longest pattern of misclassified MDLs and subpar investigations. Which they say is partly due to low job requirements for roles like state coroner, which only require a high school diploma or equivalent and a passing score on a test.
Dennoriss Richardson, 39 — Colbert County, Alabama.
On Sept. 28, 2024, sheriff’s deputies found Mr. Richardson, a youth baseball and football coach, hanging in the carport of an abandoned house roughly a half-hour from his home in Sheffield. County investigators and the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences ruled the death a suicide. However, Mr. Richardson’s wife noted that he left no note and had no connection to the house, and pointed to a federal lawsuit he had filed months earlier, accusing Sheffield police of assaulting him in custody. The family continues to fight for justice and an FBI investigation following conflicting autopsy findings.
Javion Magee, 21 — Vance County, North Carolina.
A newly licensed truck driver from the Chicago area, Magee, was found on Sept. 11, 2024, seated against a tree with a rope around his neck, near where his truck was parked on his first delivery to a Henderson Walmart. The Vance County sheriff said there were no signs of foul play and that surveillance video showed Magee buying the rope at a nearby Walmart shortly before his death. In May 2025, the state medical examiner ruled the death a suicide by hanging, with toxicology detecting only THC. His family, represented by civil rights attorneys, had feared a hate crime and pursued an independent autopsy.
Earl Smith, 58 — Albany, New York.
Smith was found on the morning of June 11, 2025, hanging from a tree at a downtown intersection. Albany police said that same day that the circumstances appeared consistent with suicide, and later reaffirmed that conclusion, citing the medical examiner. His niece described him as “a happy soul” who had been baptized days earlier, rejecting the finding. Skepticism deepened after reports that police had declined to review nearby surveillance footage.
Demartravion “Trey” Reed, 21 — Cleveland, Mississippi.
A freshman at Delta State University, Reed was found on Sept. 15, 2025, hanging from a tree near the campus pickleball courts by football players out on a morning run. The discovery garnered national attention and speculation. The county coroner reported no injuries consistent with an assault, and the state medical examiner ruled the death a suicide. The family, represented by the attorney Ben Crump, demanded the release of surveillance video footage and an independent autopsy, which they have reportedly yet to receive. His relatives later said Reed’s girlfriend had received texts from his phone in which he threatened to take his own life.
Torrance “Tory” Medley, 39 — Brookfield, Wisconsin
Medley was found on Nov. 13, 2025, hanging from a tree at a golf course in an affluent suburb. Police said the preliminary investigation indicated suicide and later said he had been experiencing a mental health crisis in his final days, adding that the reviewed video did not substantiate foul play. The family and the Milwaukee and Waukesha chapters of the NAACP questioned how a man with no car had reached the suburban course, and commissioned an independent autopsy. His phone and identification were not found.
Kyle Bassinga, 21 — Marietta, Georgia.
A Georgia State University student, Bassinga, was reported missing on Feb. 15, 2026, after being seen entering a wooded area of Fair Oaks Park alone the day before. His body was found hanging there on Feb. 18. Cobb County police, citing surveillance video, phone records, and witness accounts showing no one accompanied him, ruled the death a suicide.
Juliana Umba Nzita, 16 — Charlotte, North Carolina.
Reported missing on April 28, 2026, the teenager was found on May 8 on the grounds of a church by a man walking his dog. A Charlotte Observer investigation reported that she was found with a ratchet strap around her neck, her feet on the ground beside a small child’s chair; that the medical examiner ruled the death a suicide within three days; and that police closed the case days later without conducting an autopsy, recovering her cellphone, or interviewing the man who found her. Relatives said she had faced severe bullying and mental health struggles, but several openly doubted the ruling and demanded an autopsy.
Jerard “Jay” Jackson, 28 — Rothbury, Michigan.
An Illinois man who had driven friends to the Electric Forest music festival, Jackson was reported missing on June 29, 2026, and found the next day, June 30, in a wooded area near the Hart-Montague Trail, close to his rental vehicle. Michigan State Police said the preliminary finding was suicide and that he had left behind his phone and belongings; a friend said Mr. Jackson had seemed to be in a mental health crisis and had withdrawn from the group. Hours before he vanished, he had summoned troopers to report an alleged incident they concluded had not occurred. His family disputed the suicide finding and said he had never been diagnosed with a mental illness.
Tasia Fortune, 29 — Jackson, Mississippi.
Fortune, a mother of four, was found on Aug. 3, 2026, hanging from a tree behind a vacant home in a predominantly Black neighborhood, after neighbors found her body and called police. The Hinds County coroner identified her on Aug. 6 and sent her body to the state medical examiner; authorities have not said whether they suspect foul play, and the police have called it an active death investigation