View our timeline on Trey Reed’s death and the investigation.
The second autopsy on the body of Delta State University student Trey Reed has not been released, despite uncorroborated social media rumors currently circulating claiming it uncovered evidence of foul play. Reed, who was Black, was found hanging from a tree on the campus in Cleveland, Mississippi, on Sept. 15. The case has fueled national alarm over the cause of death, considering Mississippi’s long history of racist lynchings.
The Mississippi Free Press first reported the preliminary conclusion of the Bolivar County Coroner’s Office the same day Reed was found. Deputy Coroner Murray Roark said that Reed had none of the extensive injuries initially rumored and that, in his estimation, Reed’s death was “self-done.” Delta State University Chief of Police Michael Peeler, who is Black, said on Sept. 15 that his department did not suspect foul play.
Bolivar County Coroner Randolph Seals, who is also Black, confirmed the preliminary finding in a later statement.
Reed’s body was then transferred to the Mississippi State Crime Lab in Jackson, where Reed received a full examination. That state investigation concluded that Reed’s death was a suicide caused by hanging on Sept. 18.
But Reed’s family, represented by lawyers Vanessa Jones and Ben Crump, informed the media of their intent to seek a second autopsy and an independent investigation of Reed’s death. Not long after, former NFL star and current civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Foundation announced it would help fund the autopsy on behalf of Reed’s family.
Heading up the autopsy is Dr. Matthias I. Okoye, a Nebraska-based physician and former Chief Medical Examiner for the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C. Okoye has a controversial past, including allegations of improperly giving away body parts. He also faced a lawsuit for allegations of malicious prosecution after finding that a child died of homicide caused by blunt force trauma, leading to a day-care worker’s prosecution for felony child abuse; the charges were later dropped, and other medical experts found that the infant died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Okoye declined an Oct. 6 request for an interview.
On Oct. 3, the Clarion-Ledger reported that Okoye completed his examination before Reed’s funeral on Sept. 27. But Crump’s office “told the Clarion Ledger that the conclusive autopsy hasn’t been finalized and no details would be released until it was,” the Jackson newspaper reported.
Lawyers for the Reed family have not returned requests for comment on the rumors or the status of the second autopsy from the Mississippi Free Press. When more information is available, we will report it.
Read more of the Mississippi Free Press’ coverage of Trey Reed’s death here.