Doubt and Demand for Truth | Trey Reed Found Hanging From a Tree on Delta State Campus
- Reena Hamad
- Sep 21
- 3 min read
Reena Hamad, News Section Editor
Early Monday morning on September 15, 2025, the body of 21-year-old Delta State University student Demartravion “Trey” Reed was tragically found hanging from a tree on the Mississippi campus. Delta State University Police chief Michale Peeler said investigators found no evidence of foul play. University President Dr. Dan Ennis echoed that assessment in a statement stressing that the campus remains a safe place for students and community. Although the death remains an open investigation, officials have thus far deemed it a suicide; yet people across the nation are left unconvinced.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) said Tuesday that it is unconvinced that Reed would have taken his own life in such a disturbing way. In a post on social media, the historic civil rights organization added that, “our people have not historically hung ourselves from trees,” calling Reed’s death a lynching.
The NAACP are not the only ones expressing skepticism–Reed’s family has also raised questions about the initial findings. At a Tuesday press conference, the family’s attorney Vanessa J. Jones announced plans to seek an independent autopsy to get answers. Jones also revealed that the family was initially led to believe by the Grenada County Sheriff’s Department that Reed had died in his dorm room before learning later on the news that he was found outside, hanging from a tree.
Bolivar County Coroner Randolph Sals Jr. sought to dispel online rumors that Reed’s body bore signs of physical trauma. “He did not suffer any lacerations, contusions, compound fractures, broken bones or injuries” that would be consistent with an assault before death, Sals said.
Nonetheless, the case has reignited painful memories in Mississippi, where the DSU campus lies not far from the Tallahatchie River, the site traumatically tied to the 1955 lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till. While the investigation remains ongoing in the pursuit of justice and the truth, Representative Bennie Thompson has said that, “we cannot ignore Mississippi’s painful history of lynching and racial violence against African Americans” as he offered his deepest condolences and prayers to Reed’s family.
Reed’s death comes amid a series of similar cases in Mississippi in recent years, where Black men found hanging were officially ruled suicides. Reed’s case has now sparked doubt and protest among families and civil rights groups that are now questioning the true fate behind these devastating losses.
The death of Trey Reed was not the only death in recent headlines featuring a university campus, with the assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University igniting a wide range of heated reactions and debates nation-wide. Yet many are angered at the lack of attention Reed has received on mainstream media in comparison.
Zaire Russaw, a student here at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, voiced these frustrations in a statement saying that, “People glorify the situation about Charlie Kirk, but when someone of the minority is done wrong of this magnitude, the country is silent.” Hamidah Afolabi, another U of M-Dearborn student, echoed these concerns, pointing out that officials “were on [Kirk’s] case and found and prosecuted his killer in less than a week,” while four days have now passed since Reed’s death with little public information on the investigation. While deeply saddened by Red’s death, Afolabi expressed not being surprised by the lack of publicity as it increasingly appears to be a pattern for Black victims.
The Reed family says they will not accept official findings without further investigation. “We want answers, and we’re going to launch our own independent investigation to get those answers.” attorney Jones vowed.
[This is an unravelling story. This article was last updated on September 18, 2025 at 3:00PM EDT]
On behalf of the Michigan Journal, I extend our deepest condolences to the family of Trey Reed and all those who have lost loved ones under heartbreaking and horrendous circumstances such as these.