Despite the myriad of incendiary stories that are currently circulating in the news cycle, one story in particular has not received nearly the attention that it deserves. BOSSIP has been on top of it, and hopefully, the mainstream media will start to give this young man and his family the coverage they need to get justice in this case.
Demartravion “Trey” Reed was found hanging from a tree near the pickleball courts on Delta State University’s campus. However, according to reporting by Mississippi Free Press, this isn’t what his family was told initially by local police. Family attorney Vanessa J. Jones says that when law enforcement officials first broke the devastating news, they said that Trey died in his dorm room.
“The Grenada County Sheriff’s Department arrived at Trey’s family’s home…at approximately 9:15, and informed the family that Trey was found dead in his dorm room, in his bed,” she said.
GCSD refutes this account of events, says Chief Deputy Ricky Williamson.
“That was never the words that were said when they were notified of his death. Absolutely not. The conversation was that me and my investigator went there (to) the grandparents of Trey Reed, had them sit down on the porch, and we told them that we had been sent to notify them that Trey Reed had been found deceased at Delta State University, and that the (DSU Police) chief was on scene,” Williamson said on Wednesday afternoon.
“I said, and I don’t recall the exact wording, but that they didn’t believe it had been done by anyone else,” he continued. “I handed them the note with the chief’s name and phone number and asked could we pray with them. We prayed, and as we were leaving, the grandmother asked, ‘Was he down on the floor, was he by his bed?’ I said, ‘Ma’am, I do not know.’ And that’s when we walked away.”
According to Clarion-Ledger, over 200 people gathered at Delta State to hold a candlelight vigil for Reed. A freshman student named Christian Evans spoke to the fear that many at DSU are feeling with the uncertainty about what actually happened to their classmate.
“It’s heartbreaking to see somebody lose their life in that fashion, in whatever fashion that they say it is,” Evans told the Clarion Ledger. “But still, it strikes a sense of fear in a lot of people, and I don’t want to be scared. That’s why I’m still coming to school and still going to class. I’m just trying not to be scared. A lot of people, including myself, are scared because we don’t know for sure what happened.”
The family is seeking a second, independent autopsy to determine Reed’s true cause of death as they do not believe that he hanged himself in the manner that law enforcement is claiming. Ubiquitous civil rights attorney Ben Crump has announced that Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp will foot the bill for that autopsy.
“Trey’s death evoked the collective memory of a community that has suffered a historic wound over many, many years and many, many deaths. Peace will come only by getting to the truth. We thank Colin Kaepernick for supporting this grieving family and the cause of justice and truth.”
We will continue to monitor all things surrounding this case.
