Demartravion “Trey” Reed was found hanging from a tree in Mississippi. That sentence alone has enough deeply-rooted historical subtext to make even the most “wait for the facts” person unshakably pessimistic. BOSSIP previously reported on Reed’s disturbing demise on the Delta State University campus, where the police were quick to rule his death a suicide and noted that there was no evidence of foul play.
Reed’s family and many people who have heard about the case on social media are understandably skeptical of that seemingly hasty assertion.
According to USA Today, Reed’s family has retained the legal services of Vanessa J. Jones who has announced that her firm will seek an independent autopsy of Demartravion’s body to determine if there is evidence of foul play that was either missed or ignored by the Delta State Police.
“We will seek answers independently from Delta State University and from the coroner’s office and, if need be, independent from the state coroner’s office because we need answers as to what happened to Trey Reed,” Jones said. “Were there cameras? There should have been cameras at the university that could easily enlighten us to what happened in the early morning of September 15, 2025.”
Following the news that Reed was found hanged, rumors on social media began to proliferate, stating that he suffered two broken legs and other injuries that would have made a self-hanging nearly impossible. Bolivar County Coroner’s Office released a statement refuting those claims.
“At this current time, we are conducting a thorough death investigation,” the statement continued. “Based on the preliminary examination, we can confirm that the deceased did not suffer any lacerations, contusions, compound fractures, broken bones, or injuries consistent with an assault. At this time, there is no evidence to suggest the individual was physically attacked before his death.”
Suffice to say, there will be a great many eyes watching this investigation closely, present company included.
