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FBI investigates hanging death of black teenager | FBI investigates hanging death of black teenager |
(about 3 hours later) | |
The FBI is investigating the hanging death of a black teenager in North Carolina previously ruled a suicide. | |
Lennon Lacy, 17, was found hanging in a trailer park in Bladenboro, North Carolina, in August. | |
An FBI spokeswoman confirmed that the agency was reviewing the investigation into his death "at the request" of the local federal prosecutor. | |
The state medical examiner initially ruled it a suicide based on reports from the police and the county coroner. | The state medical examiner initially ruled it a suicide based on reports from the police and the county coroner. |
Lacy's mother wrote an article in the UK Guardian newspaper in which she said the police failed to fully investigate her son's death, including not asking why he "was found with a pair of white sneakers on his feet that he didn't own and were two sizes too small for him". | |
His family and the North Carolina chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has called for a federal investigation into his death and is holding a rally on Saturday. | |
The Reverend William Barber, president of the NAACP chapter told the Associated Press that many questions surrounding Lacy's death remain unanswered, including why he was found hanging from a belt he did not own. | |
"We don't know what happened that terrible night," Rev Barber said. | |
A spokeswoman for the State Bureau of Investigation said agents had addressed all viable leads and a district attorney had previously said he had seen no evidence of foul play. | |
Ms Lacy told AP she could not believe her son killed himself. | |
"When I saw him, I just knew automatically he didn't do that to himself," Ms Lacy said on Monday. "I know my child. As a mother, I would have sensed if something was wrong to the point that he was going to harm himself." |