Javion Magee's family is seeking answers about his death from authorities in Henderson, North Carolina.
The death of Javion Magee, a Black man from Chicago whose body was discovered at the base of a tree with a rope hanging around his neck in a rural North Carolina area, has raised numerous questions and concerns.
According to ABC 11, Magee was found dead on Sept. 11 in an area off Vanco Mill Road, not too far from where his truck was located. Investigators say that Magee was in Henderson, North Carolina, making a distribution delivery to a local Walmart.
His family, who lives in Chicago, is seeking more transparency and answers about his death from Vance County’s Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Curtis R. Brame told the outlet on Sept. 13 that his office was investigating Magee’s death.
According to Brame, the Vance County Sheriff’s Office does not believe that there was any foul play involved in the death of Magee. Brame indicated that Magee purchased the rope at the Walmart he went to before his death but did not say more when pressed by ABC 11 reporters except to stress emphatically that the death of Magee was not the result of a lynching.
“I understand there’s over 1,000 hits on TikTok (accusing) the sheriff’s office of not being transparent, not providing information to the family and that is not true,” Brame told reporters. “There’s been information put out there that there’s a lynching in Vance County. There is not a lynching in Vance County. The young man was not dangling from a tree. He was not swinging from a tree. The rope was wrapped around his neck. It was not a noose. There was not a knot in the rope, so therefore, it was not a lynching here in Vance County.”
Candice Matthews, the family spokesperson, released a statement indicating that the family did not buy Sheriff Brame’s explanation.
“A lot of this stuff does not pass the smell test and that’s a problem. The entire family is completely mortified and they are hurt, they are. They have a lot of questions and they just want to know what happened to their loved one,” Matthews said.
Khalil Gay, a man who lives in Henderson, said that the legacy of lynching deaths or murders in the South could not be easily discounted.
“I mean, honestly, I think we have to acknowledge that, No. 1, we do live in the South, and there’s a deep history of racism and racist acts. And so people are obviously concerned about that,” Gay told ABC 11.
Preliminary autopsy results showed no concrete, definite determination regarding the death of Magee. According to the autopsy, there were no signs of defensive wounds or any scars on his arms or legs. In addition, there were signs of hemorrhaging around his neck, typically a symptom of strangulation. Brame also indicated that he would try everything available to determine what happened, including a toxicology report, which could take a while to complete.
“We’re going down every avenue, every aspect of all the information. We are tracking the company to try and get his GPS reading,” Brame said.
Much of the concern over Magee’s death can be traced to a woman who claimed to be his cousin, who posted a series of videos to TikTok. In the videos, she claimed that the family did not believe the version of events from law enforcement. The woman, who was not named by the Charlotte News & Observer, also said that law enforcement would not allow Magee’s mother to identify her son and would not send her a photo of him.
The family has hired national civil rights attorneys, Atlanta’s Harry Daniels and Philadelphia’s Lee Merritt. In a press release, Merritt indicated that he and the family did not take law enforcement officials at their word.
“How can the police expect us to take their word for it when they won’t even let this family view the body?” Merritt said.
In addition, NAACP North Carolina President Deborah Dicks Maxwell called for a comprehensive investigation in her own statement.
“We demand a comprehensive and transparent investigation to uncover the truth behind this tragedy. As a community, we cannot rest until we have clear answers.”
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