A tragedy has occurred which has escaped the attention of the mainstream media and public as a whole. Lennon Lacy, 17, was found hanging from a swing set in a small North Carolina town of Bladenboro this past August. The circumstances of the crime scene have many people calling Lacy’s death a murder and more specifically a lynching. When Lacy’s body was discovered Aug. 29, he was wearing shoes that were a size and a half too small and not his own and he was hanging from a dog collar and a belt that was also not his own. Compounding the family’s suspicion was the fact that the shoes were missing when the medical examiner received the body. The shoes have yet to be found and to the family’s horror, his grave was also desecrated by unknown people.
Despite these facts, Lacy’s death was ruled a suicide by local authorities four days later. The family is outraged because of the shoddy nature of the investigation. According to Lacy’s mother, Claudia Lacy, “For those four days, the police didn’t once come to my house, they didn’t look inside Lennon’s room — they still haven’t to this day. They didn’t ask to see his cellphone so they could track his calls; they didn’t ask me what clothes he was wearing the night before he died.” Claudia Lacy believes her son was lynched because he was in a sexual relationship with a 31-year-old white woman. For months, the family has stood by this belief and the NAACP has been supporting the family in their quest for justice.
Recently, the Bladen County district attorney announced that he has asked for the FBI to investigate Lacy’s death and an agent has been assigned to the case.
