FBI reviews hanging death of black teenager

Associated Press

BLADENBORO, N.C.

The black teenager was found in a North Carolina trailer park, hanging from a swing set by a dog leash and a belt that were not his own. His mother said he showed no sign of suicidal thoughts, yet authorities quickly ruled that he had taken his own life.

Now the FBI is reviewing the investigation after Lennon Lacy’s relatives and the NAACP raised doubts about the official findings, which the county coroner also questions.

A 911 caller reported spotting the 17-year-old’s body Aug. 29 in the small town of Bladenboro, about 100 miles south of Raleigh. His feet were suspended 2 inches off the ground.

The state medical examiner ruled that the boy killed himself, but his mother said she does not believe it.

“When I saw him, I just knew automatically he didn’t do that to himself,” Claudia Lacy told The Associated Press in a recent interview. “If he was going to harm himself, his demeanor would have changed. His whole routine, everything, his attitude, everything would have changed.”

She last saw the youngest of her four sons alive as the middle linebacker prepared for a high-school football game by putting together his uniform early the day he died.

His father told him that he needed to get some sleep before the game, his first after his mother made him take a year off from the team to focus on his grades.

“OK, Daddy,” he said. They then heard a door close, which was not unusual, Claudia Lacy said, because her son liked to run at night when the air was cool.

About 13 hours later, she identified his body in the back of an ambulance. The swing set was in clear sight of about 10 trailers.

She said she felt let down when investigators ruled it a suicide and brought her concerns to the state chapter of the NAACP, which has organized a march Saturday in Bladenboro.

On Friday, federal officials confirmed they were reviewing the investigation. A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Tom Walker said Walker’s office acted at the request of attorneys from the North Carolina NAACP representing the family.