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Thread: Death of Lennon Lacy (17) ruled suicide; mother says he was lynched

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    Senior Member TupeloHoney's Avatar
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    Death of Lennon Lacy (17) ruled suicide; mother says he was lynched

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ackertown.html

    - Lennon Lacy, 17, was founded hanged from a swing set in Bladenboro, North Carolina and initially believed to have committed suicide

    - But his family are convinced he was actually murdered and the FBI is now investigating a lynching

    - Now his white girlfriend, 14 years his senior, has broken her silence to speak about their relationship in a town she says was 'racist'

    - Michelle Brimhall, 31, has left North Carolina for Illinois, saying she does not feel safe in the town

    - 'Neighbors had told me they were against inter-racial relationships and it was "not right" me being with a black guy,' she tells DailyMail.com

    - His family did not approve of their relationship but she denies claims she is a drug addict or that she was having his child





    (Dec. 18, 2014) The older white girlfriend of a hanged black teenager believes he may have been murdered by racists because of their inter-racial affair, she has told DailyMail.com.

    Lennon Lacy, 17, was found hanging from a swing set in the predominantly white town of Bladenboro, North Carolina, in August this year.

    His death was initially determined by police to be suicide but is now being investigated by the FBI as a possible lynching.

    Today the teenager's girlfriend, a 32-year-old mother of three, told DailyMail.com that she was convinced he had been murdered.

    Michelle Brimhall revealed how she had been targeted by racists during their relationship - and has now fled the town for her own safety.

    Lacy's death has become the focus for campaigners in the wake of the deaths at the hands of the police of a series of black men and boys and growing concern over police relations with African-Americans across the U.S.

    Brimhall has now decided to break her silence over the death to back his family's belief that he did not commit suicide.

    Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com she said: "I believe Lennon was murdered. The police ruled his death as suicide but Lennon would never harm himself. He's got too much love for life."

    Her intervention comes in the wake of the NACCP and other organisations highlighting the death and its investigation - and after the teenager's grave was desecrated.

    Until now she has not detailed her relationship with the dead teenager.

    But speaking in the town where she has moved to get away from Bladenboro, Brimhall spoke of how they had planned a future together, despite the age gap, and how he had a life in front of him which showed he would not commit suicide.

    They became a couple after she moved to the small town following the breakdown of her marriage earlier this year.

    She had previously lived in nearby Fayetteville with her - now estranged - husband who is from North Carolina and longed to return to the good weather of the South.

    Brimhall said: "In February I left my husband Michael and I left Illinois and I went to North Carolina."

    Although 15 years older than Lennon the short but sparky mother-of-three says she hit it off with the teenager after they were introduced through friends. They became neighbors, living across the road from each other in a public housing complex.

    She said: "I found everything about Lennon attractive. He was tall and strong and he acted much older than what he was. He had a very good soul.

    "We talked about everything. He talked about school, his mom and dad, my kids, everything going on in life. We was together every day until I started college and he went back to school."

    A gifted athlete, Lennon hoped for a career as a professional American football player. And despite the gaping age difference the pair made plans for a future together.

    Ms Brimhall said: "I wanted Lennon to fulfill his dreams. Go into the NFL and play for the Washington Redskins.

    "We had made plans to move to Charlotte after he finished high school where he could go to school until he could get into the NFL.

    "My kids loved Lennon."

    However she became alarmed at racist remarks about her relationship with Lennon by some white people in Bladenboro, particularly two neighbors who had put up a sign around their trailer saying "n*****s Keep Out" and flew a Confederate flag.

    Brimhall said: "Neighbors had told me they were against inter-racial relationships and it was 'not right' me being with a black guy.

    "We tried to keep it [our relationship] a secret. We would walk to the store together but we never held hands or kissed or any of that stuff out in public."

    It was no secret to anyone in the town, whose population is 80% white and 20% black, that the issue of race runs through it. The black minority have been known to call it Crackertown for the tension which is always present.

    "The Ku Klux Klan held marches in the town," said Brimhall.

    "They [the Ku Klux Klan] have a building [meeting house] in Bladenboro, a white building with boarded-up windows. And I'm told they still have meetings there."

    With that in mind, only a handful of people knew about the couple, said Brimhall.

    She acknowledges that there were also tensions with Lennon's family: the teenager's parents did not approve of their relationship and twice confronted Brimhall about it.

    She said: "We told his mom and dad that we had stopped seeing each other because they were getting on at him because of the age difference.

    "Miss Claudia [Lennon's mother] didn't want to see her son hurt. But I always tried to help him and push him forward."

    Their relationship cooled when Lennon returned to High School and Ms Brimhall started college at the end of August.

    She said: "With me at college, the kids and his school we did not have very much time together."

    However - fatefully - she did see him in the early hours of Friday 29 August.

    Ms Brimhall said: "It was a Thursday night. We did not see each other or talk to each other that day but I saw Lennon sitting on his front porch.

    "A friend came over and when he left at about 12.30am Lennon was not sitting on his porch no more."

    In fact, he was found hanging from a swingset in a nearby trailer park in the early hours.

    Brimhall said: "When I heard it was Lennon I felt dead inside, like I wasn't there anymore. I turned around and started walking and I couldn't breathe.

    "A lot of the days after he died blurred together because I just locked myself in the house. I would send the kids to school and stay in the house.

    "I knew that they found him hanging. It didn't make any sense. If they beat him up, why did they have to hang him and kill him?

    "Lennon wouldn't hurt nobody. He didn't do drugs he didn't mess around with any gangs. He went to school and played football. That was all he did."

    (Continued below)
    Quote Originally Posted by Not your business View Post
    I will out think the fucking pants off of you and you would thank me for helping you out of them.

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    Senior Member TupeloHoney's Avatar
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    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ackertown.html

    (Continued from above)

    The initial verdict from the local coroner following a police investigation was that there was no foul play - and the death was declared a suicide by North Carolina's Chief Medical Examiner Dr Deborah Radisch.

    But it quickly became clear that the circumstance of his death were at the very least confused.

    First reports suggested Lennon had been found hanging from a dog leash and his own belt.

    Other reports claimed the teenager's hands had been tied behind his back.Neither report was accurate.

    Lennon did own a belt similar to the one he was found hanging from but his mother discovered it days later in her car. Police found no evidence that his hands had been tied.

    However one inconvenient fact that questions the Coroner's verdict of suicide is his shoes.

    Lennon was last seen wearing a pair of $130 Nike Air Jordans. He was found wearing a pair of old white running shoes that were one and a half sizes too small.

    There was no note, no history of suicide attempts, and no depression - none of which rule out teenage suicides, but which are more likely to be present than not.

    But the key inconvenient fact for Brimhall and his family is his passion for football - and the fact that he was due to play the very next day.

    In fact, it was the start of the season and Lennon had spent much of the summer training for the game, the West Bladen Knghts versus the West Columbus Vikings.

    To his family and friends, the idea that he would hang himself only hours before the start of the season is impossible.

    His mother Claudia said: "He couldn't wait for the game. I had made him concentrate on his school work but this was going to be his first game back.

    "Nothing was going to stop him. That night he had laid out his all his kit for the game the next day. Everything he did said he wanted to play."

    This season he had become a starting line-backer on the varsity team. Next year he hoped to earn a scholarship to play football in college, and then reach the NFL four years later.

    LJ Lacy said: "I showed him how to train and get strong. He was focused on making the NFL. Nothing was going to stop him making that game. That game was his path to becoming a pro ball player."

    Anthony White, Lennon's friend and teammate, added: "He was real excited to play."

    Beyond the motivation is a question over the method. Larry Junior, LJ, Lacy, claims it would be "impossible" for his brother to have committed suicide in the way he was supposed to.

    Mr Lacy told DailyMail.com: "I was the detective for the Lacy family. They [the Bladenboro Police] were so quick to say it was suicide.

    "Me and my brother [Pierre Lacy] we carried out a reenactment. It could not be done."

    Lennon's older brother Pierre said the youngster had been "put on display."

    Brimhall said: "The boy that found Lennon told me he had bruises on his face and it looked like his nose was broke [sic]."

    The family's lawyer presented this evidence - and highlighted inconsistencies in the initial investigation to the District Attorney's Office.

    Wilson Lacy - Lennon's mother's cousin - added: "My brother was in the last class of school segregation in 1968.

    "The area where Lennon was found, we [black people] were not allowed to walk through there. They would be harassed and made to know they were not welcome.

    "The police did not do due diligence. Maybe they were short staffed but we have an expression here - the dinosaurs, that is the Ku Klux Klan, may be dead but they have laid their eggs."

    Wilson Lacy, 66, Lennon's cousin and the head of the extended Lacy family, said: "I don't know what happened, I wasn't there. But in this town when a young black boy has been with a white woman there has never been a good outcome."

    His mother Claudia Lacy added: "It is a murder that has been covered up. The police did not do their job.

    "I want the coroner to explain to me how he [Lennon] did it if it was suicide. And if he cannot I want to know who killed him and why."

    Worshippers at the Bladenboro First Baptist Church, where the Lacys are pillars of the congregation, supported the family's in their bid for justice.

    Most significantly, the NAACP became involved, and commissioned an independent pathologist who raised a series of concerns about the police investigation.

    The expert concluded that the cross beam the noose was attached was too high for the teenager to reach on his own.

    And there was no item at the scene that he could have stood on and then kicked away.

    A letter sent by the NAACP to police, prosecutors and the FBI notes 'race-based animus' toward Lennon Lacy and his family.

    Local NAACP branch president Rev William Barber Jr added Lennon was involved in an inter-racial relationship.

    He said: "There have been concerns in that community of some who have raised their dislike of that."

    Disturbingly, as the campaign grew momentum in mid-September, Lennon's grave was desecrated.

    The family's campaign culminated in a 900-strong march calling for "Justice for Lennon' through the town last weekend - and their fight has borne some - initial - fruit.

    Last weekend, they finally achieved a breakthrough as the FBI began an investigation into a possibly lynching. Separately, the state Special Bureau of Investigation is holding its own inquiry.

    In a statement the North Carolina NAACP branch said: "The Lacy family asked us to help find the truth. We began our preliminary investigation, which included hiring an expert pathologist to review the case.

    "After the expert pathologist released a preliminary report which suggested that the basic protocol for investigating a death scene was not followed by local law enforcement and which raised many unanswered questions regarding Lennon Lacy's death, the North Carolina NAACP and the Lacy family called upon the FBI to open a federal investigation.

    "After many Town Hall meetings, news conferences, and a community march through Bladenboro, our demand for a federal investigation was met.

    "Lennon Lacy's death is now being investigated by the FBI as a possible lynching."

    Bladenboro Police Chief Chris Hunt did not respond to messages seeking comment.

    The North Carolina Special Bureau of Investigation, which was brought in to the investigate Lennon's death on behalf of the District Attorney, declined to discuss the inquiry.

    Special agent Teresa West said: 'In order to protect the integrity of the on-going investigation into Lennon Lacy's death, we cannot offer a comment at this time.

    "We look forward to discussing this case at the appropriate time.The SBI investigation remains open."

    Brimhall, however, has left the town, partly in fear, and partly amid questions over her status.

    She has been surrounded by claims that she is a drug addict and that she was a part of the reason for Lennon's death.

    One theory which has gained currency in the town is that the teenager was killed by a love rival or by by Michelle's jealous ex-husband. One rumor had it that she was pregnant with Lennon's child.

    Brimhall is estranged from her parents, who told one newspaper - the New York Daily News - that she was a drug addict.

    She denied emphatically that she is a drug addict - but did not address whether she was a drug user.

    "I've heard all of these theories," she said.

    "I don't know what happened but I know my ex-husband would not get the bus down from Illinois to kill my boyfriend. And I'm not pregnant."

    She added: "I don't like North Carolina's racist history but I still love the South."

    Quote Originally Posted by Not your business View Post
    I will out think the fucking pants off of you and you would thank me for helping you out of them.

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    Senior Member bermstalker's Avatar
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    I'd be interested to see what the autopsy showed. Especially wondering if he had drugs in his system.

    As a mother, I can't help but sideeye the f out of anybody that's 32 and is dating a 17 year old.

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    Senior Member TupeloHoney's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bermstalker View Post
    I'd be interested to see what the autopsy showed. Especially wondering if he had drugs in his system.

    As a mother, I can't help but sideeye the f out of anybody that's 32 and is dating a 17 year old.

    Autopsy report posted by The Guardian:

    http://www.documentcloud.org/documen...nnon-lacy.html

    An ethanol (alcohol) concentration of blood obtained at the time of autopsy was negative, and no benzodiazepines, cocaine metabolite, gabapentin/pregabalin, opiates/opioids, or organic bases were detected in the same blood specimen. In my opinion, the cause of death in this case was due to asphyxia secondary to hanging.



    http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...ging-questions

    Autopsy released in North Carolina teenager's death but questions remain

    (Oct. 15, 2014) An official autopsy report has found that the black teenager whose death in a small town in North Carolina has sparked racial tensions and prompted complaints that police have mishandled the investigation died from suffocation as a result of hanging.

    The autopsy on Lennon Lacy, conducted under the auspices of chief medical examiner, Deborah Radisch, concludes that "the cause of death in this case was due to asphyxia secondary to hanging." It notes that Lacy's neck had a dark abrasion encircling it along with a buckle mark under the right ear that were consistent with the noose of blue and black belts tied to a swing set from which he was found hanging on 29 August.

    Despite the clearly stated cause of death, the autopsy report does not give any clues as to how the teenager came to be hanging, and as such is unlikely to calm the mood in Bladenboro, a tiny town of just 1,700 in the south of the state. Lacy's family has refused to accept that the teenager took his own life, and has accused the police of conducting a hasty investigation in a rush to settle the case as a suicide.

    Pierre Lacy, Lennon's brother, told the Guardian that the report "doesn't answer why my brother was found hanging. Or tell us, if this was a suicide, how was he able to execute this alone."

    Lacy, 17, was found hanging from the swing set in an exposed location in the middle of a mobile home park just hours before he was due to play a big game for his high school football team, the West Bladen Knights. The previous day he had attended the funeral of his great uncle with whom he was close.

    The autopsy report emphasizes that point, stating prominently under its "summary and interpretation" section that "it was reported that [Lacy] had been depressed over the recent death of his uncle." Lacy's family said they were puzzled and angered by the reference to a reported comment that had no relevance to the physical and forensic analysis involved in the postmortem.

    "An autopsy cannot determine whether a person was depressed -- you can?t tell that from physical signs, so why was it put in the report?" said Pierre Lacy. "That?s a red flag to me -- it's not factual."

    Al McSurely, a lawyer working with the North Carolina branch of the NAACP that has been invited by the Lacy family to look into the teenager's death, said that the reference to depression suggested that the autopsy had been influenced from the start by a presumption of suicide. "In fact, all our evidence suggests that Lennon was relieved that his great uncle had died after a long and painful illness, and that he was looking forward to his football game that night."

    The Guardian contacted the Bladenboro police department for a response to the autopsy but did not immediately hear back. The department has previously indicated that it has found no evidence of foul play or a staged hanging of the body.

    Lacy's death has been a mystery to his family and friends because he never had any history of mental illness or depression, and was extremely focused on the football game scheduled for a few hours after he was found hanging. He was also in a relationship with an older white woman who lived across the street.

    The family said that it was now considering exhuming the body in order to carry out its own independent autopsy. The NAACP has also asked for a meeting with the chief medical examiner to discuss her findings.

    Other aspects of the autopsy report have also raised questions for the family. It lists the clothes in which he was found, including black socks, a pair of navy blue nylon sports pants, a navy blue nylon short-sleeve shirt, and multi-coloured boxer shorts.

    But it gives no mention of any shoes. The Lacy family was told by investigators that his body was found with a pair of white sneakers without shoelaces which relatives did not recognise, while the new pair of Jordan basketball shoes he bought shortly before his death have gone missing.

    Allen Rogers, a lawyer who is representing the Lacy family, was also surprised to find no discussion of a bump that was seen on Lennon's right forehead by relatives as well as by the funeral director who handled his body. "The report makes no reference at all to the contusion that was clearly seen by several people," he said.

    The autopsy report only states under the subheading titled "Skin" that "no scalp lacerations or contusions are present." It also recorded that many red ants were found on the body and clothing, suggesting the insects had probably been responsible for multiple scratches on the body's face, upper chest, arms and scrotum.

    A final area of concern was that no swabs appear to have been taken that could be put through DNA testing to determine whether anybody else's biological traces were present. The report notes that Lacy's hands had not been bagged -- a routine process used in investigations into suspicious deaths whereby DNA evidence is protected from contamination by wrapping the hands in paper bags.

    A separate toxicology report found no traces of alcohol or drugs in Lacy's blood.
    Quote Originally Posted by Not your business View Post
    I will out think the fucking pants off of you and you would thank me for helping you out of them.

  5. #5
    Moderator bowieluva's Avatar
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    Now his white girlfriend, 14 years his senior



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    Cousin Greg Angiebla's Avatar
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    I'm 31 and want nothing to do 17 year olds. I don't think she had anything to do with his death though.

    Teenagers are impulsive.

    "The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man" -Charles Darwin

    Quote Originally Posted by bowieluva View Post
    Chelsea, if you are a ghost and reading mds, I command you to walk into the light.

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    Senior Member Queena's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Angiebla View Post
    I'm 31 and want nothing to do 17 year olds. I don't think she had anything to do with his death though.

    Teenagers are impulsive.
    I'm 39. I have a friend that's 41 who used to "date" a 16 year old. She would pick him up from school and everything. I never understood it, her oldest daughter was 2 years younger than him.

    I had another friend that's 41, although she lies and says she's 36...whatever. She dated a 14 year old when she was 35. His Mom allowed him to live with her and everything. They lived together until he was 17, and going to college. He used to beat her. Sure he was 6'5 220, and a basketball player, and she's 5'1 200, but there is no way a 14 year old would be my "man" or would he "kick my ass". I would whip him like he was my child.

    As a 39 year old, I look kind of young, but there is no way in the world I would mess with a kid. Teenage boys are so freaking dumb, annoying, and immature, they like to play video games all day. They're still in high school, freaking high school! I couldn't!

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    Senior Member debk589's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Queena View Post
    I'm 39. I have a friend that's 41 who used to "date" a 16 year old. She would pick him up from school and everything. I never understood it, her oldest daughter was 2 years younger than him.

    I had another friend that's 41, although she lies and says she's 36...whatever. She dated a 14 year old when she was 35. His Mom allowed him to live with her and everything. They lived together until he was 17, and going to college. He used to beat her. Sure he was 6'5 220, and a basketball player, and she's 5'1 200, but there is no way a 14 year old would be my "man" or would he "kick my ass". I would whip him like he was my child.

    As a 39 year old, I look kind of young, but there is no way in the world I would mess with a kid. Teenage boys are so freaking dumb, annoying, and immature, they like to play video games all day. They're still in high school, freaking high school! I couldn't!
    Uhh yeah, I'd qualify her as a pedophile.

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    Senior Member PeaceBeWithMe's Avatar
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    Holy crap on all of the above. Dating a 17yo? WTF.

    Listen, if his $130.00 shoes were missing and he had on really old shoes when they found him, it's pretty suspect.


    Quote Originally Posted by marshmallow View Post
    did you make her into a wallet Bill? cuz if you did I'm off team Bill.

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    Moderator bowieluva's Avatar
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    Yeah I'm sorry 17 year olds look like babies to me, like children, and I am 32.

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    Senior Member songbirdsong's Avatar
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    It also recorded that many red ants were found on the body and clothing, suggesting the insects had probably been responsible for multiple scratches on the body's face, upper chest, arms and scrotum.
    That's...weird. I know that ants can cause that type of scratched look, but it seems weird that they went all the way up there, you know? I wonder if there was a bed of fire ants nearby or if he was killed elsewhere on the ground and strung up.
    Quote Originally Posted by animosity View Post
    Just as I suspected. A ring of elderly pedophiles.
    Quote Originally Posted by Southern Love View Post
    Fucking piece of shit, fucking scum, internet ass holes. fucking ingrate no life having fat ass. you have no fucking clue at whats going on fuck tard shit for brains.

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    Moderator bowieluva's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by songbirdsong View Post
    That's...weird. I know that ants can cause that type of scratched look, but it seems weird that they went all the way up there, you know? I wonder if there was a bed of fire ants nearby or if he was killed elsewhere on the ground and strung up.
    Red ants climb. They probably were sort of feasting on the body.

    This is a weird situation. On one hand, I think parents always have a really hard time accepting suicide. On the other, it seems like shoddy police work.

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    Senior Member blighted star's Avatar
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    There are a few cases getting extra scrutiny at the moment. I hope this one does too because Lennon Lacey & his family definitely deserve it



    I'd highlight the worst & most questionable parts but it's pretty much the entire fucking article


    http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...nnon-lacy.html






    Black Teen Hangs, Cops Shrug, No Evidence Collected on Lennon Lacy
    Police turned away the coroner, ordered no autopsy, and took no photos or measurements. No wonder the family doesn?t believe it was suicide.
    Most people choose not to wear shoes that are two sizes too small, but things seem to work differently in Bladenboro, North Carolina, where Lennon Lacy apparently squeezed himself into an ill-fitting pair before hanging himself.

    Authorities say it was suicide; Lacy?s family says it was murder. Thanks to shoddy police work, neither side has enough facts to prove their case.

    Lacy was last seen leaving his home at 10:30 p.m. on August 28. His parents say late-night walks were common for their son, although he may have left to go across the street to his then-girlfriend?s house.




    Just before 7:30 a.m. the next day, a woman called 911 to report finding Lacy?s body. The woman called it a ?suicide? and for some reason speculated that Lacy may have been breathing. ?Should I cut him down?? she asked 911. The dispatcher told her to try, marking the first in a series of apparent missteps in an investigation wrought with procedural errors.

    Coroner Hubert Kinlaw told Dr. Christena Roberts, a pathologist hired by the North Carolina NAACP to conduct her own investigation, that he was prevented from taking photos of the crime scene by police?and that cops even threatened to take away his camera.

    Furthermore, Kinlaw told Roberts as part of her investigation that police at the scene ?didn?t want an autopsy performed,? and that Kinlaw took it upon himself to order one with the local district attorney. (Kinlaw has turned down repeated requests for comment.)

    However, an officer from the State Bureau of Investigation said in a report that no photographs were taken at the scene because the sole crime scene technician was at ?another homicide.? (No other homicides could be found in news reports for that 24-hour period.) So the authorities don?t even agree why photographs weren?t taken.

    That omission alone could jeopardize any homicide investigation, but police apparently collected virtually no forensic evidence on the crime.

    The teenager?s hands weren?t bagged when his body reached the medical examiner, which is *commonly done to preserve DNA evidence for retrieval by investigators.

    The shoes that Lacy?s family members says weren?t his never made it to the autopsy table.

    When Dr. Deborah Radisch of the North Carolina Medical Examiner?s Office asked the State Bureau of Investigation about this, they said the presence of the suspicious shoes had ?been explained but did not elaborate further.?

    Kinlaw told Roberts that police at the scene ?didn?t want an autopsy performed.?
    Hell, the noose wasn?t even measured.

    ?No measurements are available at this time for the noose (described below) but it does not appear long enough to have been tied around the beam, fed through the grommet and still allow a large enough loop for [Lacy] to be able to place over his head,? Roberts wrote.

    Radisch notes in her report the two belts delivered with Lacy?s body must have had been cut, because they didn?t seem long enough for Lacy to hang himself.

    Radisch would only be left to speculate because the authorities didn?t measure the swing set where Lacy was found.

    It wasn?t just the noose that Radisch speculated about.

    ?It was reported that he had been depressed over the recent death of an uncle,? Radisch wrote in her autopsy about what Lacy?s mother had said.

    Even the best pathologist can?t diagnose depression, so the inclusion of what amounts to witness testimony is unusual to say the least.

    ?In a sense, this is a strange report,? said Dr. Larry Kobilinsky, a professor of forensic science at New York?s John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Kobilinsky called the remark about Lacy?s mental state a ?tantalizing sentence,? but added that calling the death a suicide was premature.

    ?What they should have simply said, at least until more information is available, is that the cause of death is undetermined,? said Kobilinsky. ?There are some complicated cases where the question is suicide or homicide. These are difficult determinations and it requires a lot of expertise and good crime-scene work.?


    There was neither.

    If evidence was taken from the scene, that information is contained in police reports that aren?t subject to open records laws due to the FBI?s ongoing investigation, the police said. And since police and the local coroner had determined early on that Lacy had taken his own life, little was done to test how he would have done so.

    At 5 feet 9 inches tall, Lacy would have had to jump 21 inches to grab the cross beam to secure the noose. Not an impossible feat, even for a husky young man who weighed 207 pounds, but a difficult one considering he would have then had to use his free hand to secure the noose through a metal grommet on the beam. There is another way Lacy could have achieved this morbid feat, which was raised by Roberts.

    ?The side structure of the platform is a rather small square that is further obstructed by the v-shaped vertical supports of the swing,? she wrote. Lacy would have to slip his head into the noose while cantilevering from the platform, then let go.

    The only other way, besides the 21-inch leap or leaning off the platform, would?ve been for Lacy to stand on something under the cross beam. There was no such thing found the next morning.

    None of this proves Lacy?s death was a suicide or a homicide. None of the information compiled by police?what little there is?proves anything. Lacy?s death remains as much a mystery as it was the day police showed up at the swing set, and decided there was no mystery at all.
    Last edited by blighted star; 07-26-2015 at 09:54 AM.

  14. #14
    Moderator bowieluva's Avatar
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    That is not an article, though, that is all opinionated conjecture. A blog. There are no facts in there, really.

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    Senior Member blighted star's Avatar
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    So limit to msm? I'll find something to replace it tomorroiw.



    Is this OK? I have no idea how to check the credentials of regional U.S news. There's an article from Al Jazeera in April too but it's more general & just references the ongoing FBI probe. I'll dig around for more is this one is dodgy too

    http://wilmingtonjournal.com/lennon-...moves-forward/
    Last edited by blighted star; 07-26-2015 at 10:11 AM.

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    Moderator bowieluva's Avatar
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    Yes, that is a much better article.

    Whenever you read something where the article has an obviously strong opinion and is trying to assert it as fact, that is an op/ed or a blog trying to pass itself off as professional journalism.

  17. #17
    Senior Member blighted star's Avatar
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    I figured everyone would just judge for themselves like usual - I mean, we've even linked Topix threads in the past, but now I'm genuinely confused about what are considered baseless blogs & what are considered independant media sites in the U.S.

    Unless it was being funded by the Socialist Collective or a RW think tank etc, something like this would just be considered independent media down here because it's part-owned by Newsweek & employs credentialled journalists


    - unless of course all the wiki's & write-ups are just trolls that are going over my head because I'm not local?

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daily_Beast

    The Daily Beast was launched on October 6, 2008, and is owned by IAC. Tina Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker as well as the short-lived Talk Magazine was the founding editor. Brown stepped down as editor in September 2013.[2] John Avlon, an American journalist and political commentator as well as a CNN contributor, is the site's Editor-in-Chief.[3] Mike Dyer is Chief Strategy and Product Officer and Sarah Chubb serves as Senior Advisor.[4]

    The name of the site was taken from a fictional newspaper in Evelyn Waugh's novel Scoop.[5]

    On 12 November 2010, The Daily Beast and Newsweek announced a merger deal, creating a combined company, The Newsweek Daily Beast Company. On 3 August 2013 IAC, owner of The Daily Beast, sold Newsweek to IBT Media, owner of the International Business Times.[6] In September of 2014, one year after Tina Brown's departure was announced, The Daily Beast reached a new record of 21 million unique visitors - a 60% year-over-year increase in readers, accompanied by a 300% increase in the overall size of its social media community.[7] In 2015, Ken Doctor, a news analyst for NeimanLab, reported on Capital New York that The Daily Beast is, ?one of the fastest-growing news and information sites year-over-year in the ?General News? category.




    http://www.thedailybeast.com/company/about-us.html


    The Daily Beast delivers award-winning original reporting and sharp opinion from big personalities in the arenas of politics, pop-culture, world news and more. Fiercely independent and armed with irreverent intelligence, The Daily Beast now reaches more than 20 million readers per month. John Avlon is Editor-in-Chief and Mike Dyer is Chief Digital Officer.* The Daily Beast is based in New York and is an operating business of IAC (NASDAQ: IACI).



    I'm really not trying to be an argumentative shit but I'm really confused & second-guessing everything I post now





    Edit : just in case the DB media background is a joke I'm missing, I'm finding some old articles from definite media sources that report much the same details as the Daily Beast


    The autopsy report


    https://www.documentcloud.org/docume...nnon-lacy.html




    This discusses injuries noted by the funeral director


    http://www.theroot.com/articles/cult...y_s_death.html


    Injury to head, swabs not taken, hands not bagged

    http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...ging-questions



    This discusses the findings by the independent pathologist & the comments made by Kinlaw


    http://www.indyweek.com/news/archive...on-lacys-death



    There are rumblings that the FBI investigation is over & found nothing but I can't find any media confirming this at all - maybe someone else can?
    Last edited by blighted star; 07-27-2015 at 01:15 AM.

  18. #18
    Senior Member blighted star's Avatar
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    I couldn't find the investigation results because they weren't released until last month

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...fbi-hate-crime




    The mystery of a black teenager who was found hanging from a swing set in a small North Carolina town almost two years ago, prompting fears of a modern-day lynching, has achieved some kind of resolution after federal investigators announced they have closed their inquiry into the case having found no evidence of a hate crime.

    Lennon Lacy, a 17-year-old budding African American high school football linebacker, died on the morning of 29 August 2014 just hours before a big game. He was found nearby his home in Bladenboro, North Carolina, hanging from a swing set in the middle of a trailer park occupied almost exclusively by white residents.


    Teenager's mysterious death evokes painful imagery in North Carolina: 'It's in the DNA of America'
    Read more
    The Guardian brought the disturbing death to the public’s attention, reporting on the strong suspicions of Lennon’s family that he had been a victim of a hate killing. The FBI eventually agreed to investigate the case at the request of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP to see whether local police had made a mistake in categorizing the death as suicide.

    The US attorney’s office for the eastern district of North Carolina has put out a statement stating that there was “no evidence to pursue federal criminal civil rights charges”. That finding was reached, the statement said, after a “comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding Lacy’s death” had been conducted, specifically to see whether a homicide had taken place as a hate crime based on the victim’s actual or perceived race.

    The US attorney listed the steps taken during the investigation, including a review of law enforcement reports, statements made by Lacy’s family and friends, witness statements, social media postings, forensic evidence and more. “After a careful and thorough review by a team of experienced federal prosecutors and FBI agents,” the office said, “the Justice Department found no evidence to suggest that Lacy’s death was a homicide. Accordingly, the investigation into this incident has been closed.”

    It is not clear whether the categorical nature of the FBI and US attorney’s conclusion will finally assuage the searing doubts of Lacy’s family and bring them closure in the wake of the teenager’s tragic death. Lennon’s mother Claudia Lacy, and brothers Pierre and Larry, have been informed by the federal authorities of their decision, and so far have given no public response.

    But the NAACP has indicated that the boy’s mother, as well as the civil rights organization itself, were at least satisfied that the FBI had carried out a proper review of the evidence. “Although the federal representatives were unable to answer all the family’s lingering questions about some evidence, Ms Lacy and NC NAACP lawyers were satisfied the federal authorities had tried to conduct a thorough investigation,” the NAACP said.

    The swing set where Lennon Lacy was found hanging from in a trailer park in the rural town of Bladenboro.
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    In its statement, the group added:“The NC NAACP and M Lacy have always said that we can take the truth and that it will set us free. [They] will take some time to process this news, before announcing their next steps in this case. There is no statute of limitations on a murder case.”

    Despite the NAACP’s noncommittal response, there has been an outpouring of anger on social media from friends of the Lacy family and black activists denouncing the federal investigation as yet another cover-up. Pasha Lynn said on Facebook “It’s not over.” A postal worker named Corey Lyons said: “America’s laws were not meant for black people. I am appalled that federal officials have the audacity to close the case without giving the family the satisfaction of knowing the truth behind the murder.”

    Durham resident HF Watts Jr wrote on the site that “this is disgraceful! No investigation was conducted. It was physically and mathematically impossible for suicide to happen with a 200 pound man and a short dog leash.”

    The post was a reference to a report by an independent pathologist brought in by the North Carolina branch of the NAACP to review the case. The pathologist found discrepancies in the evidence that cast doubt on the official finding of suicide, and identified physical reasons that suggested it would have been almost impossible for the teenager to hang himself from the swing set.



    Those conclusions conflicted with the earlier official autopsy report, which noted Lacy had been depressed from the recent death of a beloved uncle, and concluded the boy had died from “asphyxia secondary to hanging”.

    Various other aspects of the case caused deep concern for family members, local residents of Bladenboro and the NAACP. A new pair of Jordans that Lacy had bought were missing, while a pair of white sneakers that nobody recognized was found on his body.


    Lacy had also been in a relationship with an older white woman, Michelle Brimhall, who lived across the street. She told the Guardian that she was convinced he did not take his own life, though she added there had been no hostility towards them as a mixed-race couple.

    Later, after she had left Bladenboro and moved elsewhere, Brimhall told the Daily Mail the opposite story – that she and Lacy had been targeted by white racists who told her they disapproved of interracial relationships.

    The boy’s family were angry that the local police authorities had, in their opinion, already made up their minds that it was a suicide and rushed the investigation accordingly. But soon after the FBI closed the case, the Bladen County district attorney John David put out a statement disputing that account of events.

    “Some have suggested that the quality of the initial law enforcement investigation was lackluster. In my analysis, this is simply untrue,” attorney Jon David said. “The FBI assessment has confirmed my initial opinion that the investigation conducted by the State Bureau of Investigation and the Bladenboro Police Department was complete, thorough, and professional.”



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    3: The two belts used to create the noose didn't belong to Lennon. Lennon was wearing sweatpants with elastic so he didn't need belts.

    https://www.change.org/p/fbi-reopen-...of-lennon-lacy

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    Senior Member daisylane's Avatar
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    I blame Miller
    Quote Originally Posted by Lazarus View Post
    gangsta rap does not help the youth
    Quote Originally Posted by bermstalker View Post
    DONT MAKE ME FUCK YOUR BITCH THAT PUSSY POPPIN

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    Senior Member Jezebelle's Avatar
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    I don't know if it was a 'hate crime' or if someone wanted his high dollar shoes or WHAT, but it sure doesn't seem like a suicide to me.

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    Senior Member songbirdsong's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jezebelle View Post
    I don't know if it was a 'hate crime' or if someone wanted his high dollar shoes or WHAT, but it sure doesn't seem like a suicide to me.
    It really does seem funky. The shoes were weird, and the fact that someone desecrated his grave--the grave of a teenage boy--tells me there's some serious hate in that town.
    Quote Originally Posted by animosity View Post
    Just as I suspected. A ring of elderly pedophiles.
    Quote Originally Posted by Southern Love View Post
    Fucking piece of shit, fucking scum, internet ass holes. fucking ingrate no life having fat ass. you have no fucking clue at whats going on fuck tard shit for brains.

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    The black thing was described as a dog leash. Neither of which belonged to Lacy.

    One was blue canvas and the other black and webbed ?like a dog leash,? Kinlaw said. He looked at the swing set, which was attached to a small climbing platform for a green plastic slide. He didn?t take any measurements or run calculations ? which later opened him up to criticism

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...98e_story.html


  24. #24
    Senior Member songbirdsong's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by frank benny View Post
    The black thing was described as a dog leash. Neither of which belonged to Lacy.

    One was blue canvas and the other black and webbed ?like a dog leash,? Kinlaw said. He looked at the swing set, which was attached to a small climbing platform for a green plastic slide. He didn?t take any measurements or run calculations ? which later opened him up to criticism

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...98e_story.html

    Do you vet your sources in any way? You just posted something about how they were belts, now they're dog leashes?
    Quote Originally Posted by animosity View Post
    Just as I suspected. A ring of elderly pedophiles.
    Quote Originally Posted by Southern Love View Post
    Fucking piece of shit, fucking scum, internet ass holes. fucking ingrate no life having fat ass. you have no fucking clue at whats going on fuck tard shit for brains.

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    Senior Member McCourt's Avatar
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    Anyone can hang themself from even a doorknob, so height doesn't mean anything. I sympathize with the family, but couldn't they find a photo of him past the age of 12? I also don't understand why the dude was with this middle aged female with other kids.

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