Black man found dead against tree with rope around his neck in NC: 'Not a lynching,' sheriff says

HENDERSON, N.C. (WTVD) -- The investigation into a Chicago man's death in North Carolina continues as questions and rumors surrounding it grow, especially on social media.

Javion Magee, a 21-year-old truck driver from the Chicago area, was found dead in a rural area off Vanco Mill Road on Wednesday. Investigators said he was not far from his truck, leaning with his back up against a tree and a rope around his neck. Magee was in Henderson making a delivery to the Walmart distribution center.

Magee's family, who lives in Chicago, is upset and demanding answers. They are calling for transparency and more answers from the Vance County Sheriff's Office about what happened.

On Friday, Sheriff Curtis R. Brame told ABC11 his office was conducting a death investigation.

Brame told ABC11 that there were no signs of foul play in Magee's death. He said Magee went to a nearby Walmart shortly before he died. That is where he is believed to have bought the rope found around his neck. When ABC11 asked more about that, Brame declined to elaborate. In response to social media rumors, the sheriff continued to reiterate that Magee's death was not a lynching.

"I understand there's over 1,000 hits on TikTok (accusing) the sheriff's office of not being transparent, not providing information to the family and that is not true," Brame said. "There's been information put out there that there's a lynching in Vance County. There is not a lynching in Vance County. The young man was not dangling from a tree. He was not swinging from a tree. The rope was wrapped around his neck. It was not a noose. There was not a knot in the rope, so therefore, it was not a lynching here in Vance County."

"There's been information put out there that there's a lynching in Vance County. There is not a lynching."

Nearly a thousand miles away, Magee's family wasn't convinced.

"A lot of this stuff does not pass the smell test and that's a problem. The entire family is completely mortified and they are hurt, they are. They have a lot of questions and they just want to know what happened to their loved one." said family spokesperson Candice Matthews.

Khalil Gay, who lives in Henderson, said, "I mean, honestly, I think we have to acknowledge that, No. 1, we do live in the South, and there's a deep history of racism and racist acts. And so people are obviously concerned about that."

Magee's body has been sent to the medical examiner for an autopsy to officially determine the cause of death.

Preliminary Autopsy Results

Late Friday, Brame shared new information about Magee's preliminary autopsy. He said the results have been shared with the family. The preliminary results showed no concrete determination of the cause of Magee's death. There were no obvious signs of defensive wounds or scars on his limbs including arms and legs. The autopsy showed there were signs of hemorrhaging detected around the soft part of Magee's neck.

Brame said his office is waiting for the toxicology report to come back, which could take a little longer.

"We're going down every avenue, every aspect of all the information. We are tracking the company to try and get his GPS reading," Brame said.

Editor's note: The two investigating agencies in this case are the Vance County Sheriff's Office and SBI.