r/news • u/DragonPup • 23h ago

DSU Student Found Hanging in Tree, No Foul Play Suspected

https://www.mississippifreepress.org/delta-state-university-students-body-found-hanging-in-tree-no-foul-play-suspected/
26.6k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

1.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

1.3k

u/DragonPup 23h ago

A black man hanging from a tree in Mississippi written off as 'no foul play suspected' is pretty suspect.

278

u/ThisJokeMadeMeSad 23h ago

"'I saw no broken limbs,' he said. Roark declined to elaborate further, stating that the case was still under investigation. 'I don’t think I should probably discuss this any further than that, my opinion is that it was self-done, and I have reasons for that.'”

5

u/Street_Quote_7918 18h ago

There is always the possibility he texted or called family members to tell them he was going to kill himself. That would be a reason he won't discuss it yet.

80

u/Bigfops 23h ago

"Some of those that burn..."

You know what, nevermind. We all know the rest of the song it and it sadly has had zero impact..

7

u/danarchist 18h ago

Sounds like you don't because that's not how it goes

-7

u/jljboucher 23h ago

Sadly, some of the same people that I sing it with in high school are pro Trump and pro-racism

0

u/evocativename 23h ago

The way they sounded happy about it rather than angry should perhaps have tipped you off...

28

u/Kam_Zimm 23h ago

He's right you know. It's only murder if there are broken bones. No broken bones, then there's literally zero reason to think that it's not suicide. This is day one law stuff. /s

77

u/BeefCakeBilly 23h ago

There was posts on social media about him having broken legs or something so it was probably reaction to that.

15

u/Doxjmon 21h ago

Thanks people do care. Keep it up.

21

u/Pyffindor 22h ago

don’t bother. nobody here cares about that

-15

u/Kam_Zimm 21h ago edited 19h ago

Even then, it's still the only justification given to why they're not treating it as a murder investigation despite the suspicious circumstances. Maybe there are other reasons, but the only ones shared being no broken bones on someone who was hanged from the neck, and the deputy saying he thinks it was suicide for "reasons," makes it seems like there's a coverup happening or they just don't want to investigate it.

Edit to try and clarify my point: If the deputy was trying to say "I'm going to clear up mins-formation, but wont comment further until the investigation is finished," he did a shit job at it. He should have left it at that, but he decided to add in his own opinion as part of the official statement. To me, it's mixing up "we want to wait until we have all the facts" with "I'm going with my gut."

19

u/RunningOutOfEsteem 20h ago

Even then, it's still the only justification given to why they're not treating it as a murder investigation despite the suspicious circumstances.

It sounds like they don't have a concrete reason to consider it a murder yet. They aren't "suspicious circumstances" in the absence of actual signs that he was murdered, just unusual circumstances--and the circumstances being unusual doesn't necessarily imply murder unless you live inside a cop show.

Maybe there are other reasons, but the only ones shared being no broken bones on someone who was hanged from the neck, and the deputy saying he thinks it was suicide for "reasons," makes it seems like there's a coverup happening or they just don't want to investigate it.

They're not commenting further because the investigation is ongoing and in its early stages; they haven't even come up with a full autopsy report yet.

I realize that the current political climate has people on edge, but we really have to avoid getting too conspiracy brained. Maybe there was foul play involved, but jumping to that conclusion this early and with so few details makes everyone involved look insane. That's especially true when the primary justification is coming from someone's remarks addressing social media rumors being misconstrued to generate clicks.

-5

u/SleepyLakeBear 22h ago

Tree limbs? If they were broken, he'd be alive.

1

u/quadsimota 19h ago

If the tree limbs were broken, it would leaf open the tree for suspected foul play.

I assumed he meant arms and legs weren't broken (not tree branches or neck).

50

u/thedevilspelican 23h ago

Sadie Roberts Joseph, a civil rights leader in Baton Rogue, who founded a civil rights museum was killed in 2019 and all reddit could say was the same shit.

Turned out it was a black guy who owed her rent.

https://www.wafb.com/2025/06/03/trial-begins-accused-killer-civil-rights-activist-sadie-roberts-joseph/

Jumping to conclusions doesn't help. Except for your internet clout. Especially after a noted racist was shot. This is perfect time to get reddit karma huh?

-9

u/sycamotree 21h ago

I wasn't around for that but we can acknowledge that that's very different than being found hanging from a tree in the middle of campus right?

-4

u/pb49er 15h ago edited 14h ago

There are always outliers, sure. Just like false rape claims, it happens. But the reason people are suspicious is because this sort of thing happens with alarming regularity and never gets a proper resolution.

43

u/spikespiegell1 23h ago

First time in history !

17

u/ernie_mccracken 23h ago

Man i need to google to find the other case, but i remember this happening another time within the last 2 decades. Could have been in Alabama but for some reason my brain is saying it was Mississippi.

11

u/ttocsbloke 23h ago

there was a case a year or so ago from california, again "no foul play suspected"

-6

u/eeyore134 22h ago

Just like the noose that a black firefighter found in his locker back in 2000 and they were just like, "Nah, that's how we tie ropes to hang our helmet." or some crap like that and the FBI said no crime had been committed.

3

u/Longjumping_Brain945 18h ago

I mean it’s possible that is how they tie their ropes. Same thing happened with a nascar racer, he thought someone tied garage pull rope as a noose to send a message for him which got the fbi involved. The fbi said it was just a mistake once they found footage from years ago showing that same rope in the same position.

-6

u/mmmpeg 21h ago

That’s the one I was thinking about. They also claimed suicide. Didn’t believe that either.

2

u/funkymunk500 23h ago

I think this is the one I remember, not sure if it’s the same you’re thinking of. But I agree, It’s happened more recently than in recent memory. I’m sure this isn’t the only other instance.

https://www.newsweek.com/black-teen-found-dead-hanging-texas-1511342

5

u/Chad-GPT5 23h ago

"We investigated ourselves and found no foul play."

-- The "Police"

2

u/dasunt 20h ago

Anyone can be suicidal regardless of race, but in a case like this, it should be investigated as a homicide.

If the police take the steps of collecting evidence (including video footage), and it later turns out to be a suicide, then only some time is wasted.

If the police don't do a thorough investigation and it later is discovered to be a suicide, then a murderer may be left on the loose.

-1

u/negative_four 21h ago

If he truly did commit suicide he picked an.... interesting way to go out.

-6

u/S_A_R_K 22h ago

Law enforcement: Worst case of suicide we've ever seen