Hanging is probed
FBI enters N.C. ‘lynch’ case
THE MOTHER of ablackteen found hanged in a racially divided North Carolina town has one burning question on her mind: Was he lynched?
Now the FBI is headed to tiny Bladenboro — population 1,700 — to get answers in the August death of 17-year-old Lennon Lacy, which local cops quickly ruled a suicide.
“We are thankful for the decision by the FBI to investigate — thoroughly — the death of my son,” the boy’s grieving mother, Claudia Lacy, told the Daily News. “I do not believe he committed suicide. Too many questions remain, too many answers not given.”
The mom pointed out that her son was dating a 31-year-old white woman.
“Lennon loved life and was looking forward to life,” she added.
The teen’s body was spotted by a witness around 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 29, hanging from a swing set in a local trailer park. Local authorities said the teen killed himself, but his mom says she knew they were wrong the moment she saw his body zipped into a body bag.
The Rev. William Barber, head of the NAACP’s local chapter, helped the family get a lawyer and hire an independent pathologist who checked the autopsies by government county officials.
What they found spurred a months-long crusade to get federal authorities involved.
“There was a rush to judgment here and we hope the FBI will bring the resources and specialized training needed to look at all the facts,” Barber said.
There were several irregularities in the local investigation, according to Barber: l Cops didn’t search Lacy’s home for a suicide note or his cell phone, or investigate his interracial relationship. l The coroner never got the dimensions of the swing set. Given Lacy’s 5-foot-7 height, he couldn’t have reached the bars without a stool of some sort. None was found. l The belt and dog leash used as a noose were not his. His belt was never recovered. l He was wearing white laceless sneakers nearly two sizes too small. His shoes were never found. l The white shoes found with him went missing before the ME got the body. They have not been found. l When the witness called 911, operators told her to take the body down. l His hands weren’t bagged to preserve any DNA from a possible attacker.
Since the NAACP released its findings, the county coroner backed off her suicide ruling — saying if she’d had all the information she would have marked Lacy’s cause of death as “pending” until she could run a full toxicology report.