The Delta State University community is devastated by the discovery of 21-year-old Demartravion “Trey” Reed hanging from a tree on the campus.  The body was found on Monday morning, Sept. 15,  around 7:05 a.m. near the pickleball courts, a highly visible area in the center of campus.

Staff immediately called emergency services, and Reed was pronounced dead at the scene. His death occurred during Delta State’s centennial celebrations, prompting the university to cancel classes and events for the day. What should have been a week of joy and commemoration for the institution quickly turned into mourning and uncertainty.

Authorities—including the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, Bolivar County Sheriff’s Department, Cleveland Police and Delta State University Police—launched a joint investigation. At this stage, officials stated that no evidence of foul play had been found. However, they stressed that the matter was under active review and an autopsy was pending.

Delta State University President Daniel Ennis issued a public statement acknowledging Reed’s death and offering condolences to his family. He emphasized the availability of counseling services for students, staff and faculty.

“The loss of Trey Reed is devastating to all of us,” Ennis said. “We extend our deepest sympathy to his loved ones and are committed to supporting our students, faculty and staff during this difficult time.”

Classes were suspended, centennial celebrations were paused and the normally busy campus fell silent. This was because students gathered for impromptu vigils and shared messages of support online.

Investigators have not confirmed foul play. However, the nature of Reed’s death has ignited public skepticism and raised painful reminders of Mississippi’s violent racial history.

The Equal Justice Initiative has documented more than 650 lynchings of Black people in Mississippi between 1877 and 1950. That is the highest total of any state during that period. For many, the image of a young Black man found hanging from a tree in 2025 cannot be separated from that historical context.

Social media users quickly drew parallels to past controversial cases where Black men’s hanging deaths were ruled suicides despite lingering questions:

• In 2000, 17-year-old Raynard Johnson was found hanging in front of his Jefferson County, Mississippi, home. Authorities ruled it a suicide, but civil rights leaders and Johnson’s family insisted it may have been a lynching.
• In 2014, Lennon Lacy, a 17-year-old Black teen in North Carolina, was discovered hanging from a swing set. Though investigators called it suicide, a 2019 NAACP reinvestigation argued there was strong evidence of foul play.

These cases, combined with Reed’s death, fuel ongoing concerns that law enforcement sometimes rushes to dismiss racially charged deaths without full transparency.

It is important to note that officials have not yet confirmed whether Reed’s death was a suicide. However, the incident comes amid a crisis in student mental health.

According to a 2023 American Psychological Association report, diagnoses of anxiety and depression among college students have risen significantly since 2010. Universities across the nation are grappling with how to provide better support for students navigating intense academic, financial and social pressures.

Delta State has not released any details about Reed’s personal struggles or whether he sought counseling. Still, the university has pledged to prioritize mental health support in the wake of his death, knowing that unresolved grief can ripple across a small campus.

Just hours after Reed’s death, another tragic discovery was made across the state. Around 1:30 p.m. on Monday, the Vicksburg Police Department responded to a call about a body found hanging in a wooded area off the 4100 block of Washington Street, near the Ameristar Casino.

The victim has been identified as Cory Zukatis, a resident of Brandon, Mississippi. Police said the investigation remains ongoing, and as of press time, no further details have been released regarding the circumstances surrounding Zukatis’s death.

Although police have assured the public that the two incidents are not connected, the proximity in timing between Reed’s death in Cleveland and Zukatis’s in Vicksburg has drawn heightened attention—especially after Black colleges received bomb threats following the death of controversial podcaster, Charlie Kirk.

Officials in both cases have said that foul play is not suspected, but the fact that two men were found hanging in separate Mississippi cities on the same day has left communities shaken and has highlighted the importance of mental health awareness, community support and open communication during moments of collective grief.