Reginald Williams
Special to the AFRO
Javion McGee, of Chicago, was found dead in Henderson, N.C., on Sept. 11 with a rope around his neck. He was 21.
Credit: Photo courtesy of Facebook
McGee, a trucker, was reported to have delivered a load to the Walmart distribution center, located at 453 Martin Creek Rd., just before the discovery of his lifeless body. McGee’s body was found at 285 Vanco Mill Rd, approximately 0.8 miles in an adjacent lot from the distribution center.
Police officials report that he had no identification on him, suggesting that he had no wallet. Still, law enforcement says he allegedly purchased the rope that caused his death from Walmart.
“There was an investigation on Vanco Mill Rd by the Vance County Sheriff’s Office. Since this morning, our agency has been mentioned in some Facebook posts about the investigation,” read a statement on the Henderson Police Department Facebook. “This incident did not occur in the City of Henderson, nor have we had any involvement with the investigation.”
The location where the death occurred is just outside of Henderson’s city limits in a region of Vance County governed by the Sheriff’s Department. The demographic for Henderson is 63 percent African-American and 27.9 percent White.
Sheriff Curtis R. Brame, a 30-year African-American veteran of the police department, confirms that the City of Henderson has no jurisdiction in McGee’s death. Brame leads the sheriff’s office and said the incident is being treated as a death, having no signs of foul play or implications of someone else being involved.
“I understand their loss,” explained Brame. “Condolence goes out to the family, to the mother, and to the loved ones. I never lost a child. I never walked in their shoes– but I ask them to slow down, to pump their brakes—slow that train down that’s left the station about the Vance County Sheriff’s Office. And I definitely want to be clear that the Henderson Police Department has nothing to do with this investigation whatsoever.”
While the national media has largely remained mute on this suspicious death, social media—especially TikTok– has been set ablaze, calling for the Sheriff’s office to be more transparent and vigilant in finding who killed McGee.
Responding to the accusations, Brame maintains his team is working with the local district attorney and the State Bureau of Investigation to uncover the details of McGee’s death. But he is adamant that his death isn’t a hanging.
“There is not a lynching in Vance County,” Brame said. “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. It was not a knot. Therefore, there was not a lynching here in Vance County.”
McGee’s family isn’t convinced that Brame is being transparent. Family members declined to give comment to the AFRO, but did confirm that the family is being represented by Attorney Ben Crump and Candice Matthews. The AFRO will follow the case as the investigation continues.
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