Did the openly-gay mayoral candidate who was found in a Mississippi river die because of love gone awry?
DETAILS: So Sad! Family Of Murdered Gay Mayoral Candidate Says He Was Beaten, Dragged & Burned
The nature of 33-year-old Marco McMillian’s murder was grisly and intense, leading investigators to believe that the bruises and burning were caused by a crime of passion.
According to Gawker:
Ever since 22-year-old Lawrence Reed, pictured at left, was found driving—and subsequently crashing—33-year-old Marco McMillian’s SUV on a highway in Tennessee last week, news outlets have been trying to piece together exactly how the two men knew each other…Yet as more details emerge, McMillian’s killing seems to be less about a targeted hate attack and more about a relationship that soured.
People close to both Reed and McMillian agree the men met and became friendly at a bar in Clarksdale, the stories differ from there.
PHOTOS: PRAYERS! Marco McMillian, Openly Gay Mississippi Mayoral Candidate, Found Dead
Some people believe the two men were just friends, while others claim they were romantically involved, according to an article from the Jackson-based Clarion-Ledger:
Friends of Reed told Memphis television station WPTY that the two recently had met at a Clarksdale bar and became close. Then, sometime either late Monday night or early Tuesday morning, McMillian made sexual advances on Reed, the friends said, adding that Reed is straight.
The Clarion-Ledger couldn’t reach Reed’s friends, but it’s also the version of events investigators were told. After being hit on, Reed allegedly snapped, strangled McMillian, then drove McMillian’s SUV to the levee west of Clarksdale and tossed his body near the river.
Friends of McMillian, however, say the two men were romantically involved and quarreled immediately before the slaying.
“They were having an affair, said 18-year-old Carlos Jones. “They got to tussling.”
However, authorities have not yet pinpointed a motive in the murder.
This story is developing.
SOURCE: Gawker
