The FBI has announced an official investigation into the death of 17-year-old Lennon Lacy, who was found hanging from a swing set in Bladenboro, North Carolina in August.
A federal agent was assigned to the case today (December 12) after Lacy’s family formally requested the order with the North Carolina branch of the NAACP. In a special op-ed for The Guardian, Lennon’s mother Claudia Lacy wrote about the day she lost her son and questioned if he was the victim of a modern-day lynching.
My son – a black teenager who had the world going for him, who was looking forward to playing in a big football game with his high-school team that same night – was found hanging from a swing set in the middle of a white trailer park. And within hours the police had decided it was suicide.
It doesn’t look like that to me. We don’t know what happened to my son three months ago, and suicide is still possible. But there are so many unanswered questions that I can’t help but ask:
Was he killed? Was my son lynched?
Lennon was a budding high school football star when he died. The family suspected foul play after the police ruled his death a suicide. The teen was also found with unfamiliar shoes a few sizes too small on his feet and abrasions to his forehead. These were just some of the 20 evidential items submitted to US attorney Thomas Walker in an effort to include the FBI.
Lacy’s brother called the move a big step in the case.
“We have accomplished a lot even to have the FBI consider looking into this,” he said. Lacy said the assignment of an agent took the inquiry “to the next level” but added: “We are still left waiting to find out where this will all take us.”
The family will take place in a march for Lennon Lacy 10 a.m. EST Saturday at the First Baptist Church in Bladenboro, North Carolina.
SOURCE: The Guardian | PHOTO CREDIT: Handout
