In September 2025, after Delta State University staff found (archived) the body of Demartravion "Trey" Reed on the Cleveland, Mississippi, campus, claims circulated online about how the 21-year-old student had died.
DSU police Chief Michael Peeler said (archived) during a news conference on Sept. 15 that Reed, who was Black, was "hanging from a tree" near the university's pickleball courts when staff found him.
Claims circulated online that Reed had been lynched (archived) or that he suffered multiple broken bones (archived) before he died. Though the term lynching can apply generally to killings by a mob without due process, it carries strong associations to violence by white people against Black people in the U.S.
One Threads (archived) user, whose post had 5,000 shares at the time of this writing, wrote, "His name was Trey Reed. He was 21. He was a son A Black student lynched in 2025, not 1925. Do not let them bury his story."
Claims about Reed's death (archived, archived) circulated widely online, with some connecting (archived) it to the death of Corey (or Cory) Zukatis, a 36-year-old man found hanging Sept. 15, 2025, near a casino in Vicksburg, Mississippi, about 100 miles from DSU.
Speaking about Reed's death, Murray Roark, a deputy coroner at the Bolivar County Coroner's Office, told the Mississippi Free Press on Sept. 15 that he "saw no broken limbs" and that the death was "self-done," which appeared to imply suicide. Peeler said (at 2:00) during a Sept. 15 news conference that investigators did not suspect foul play, which typically means violence or murder, in Reed's death.
A spokesperson from the Bolivar County Coroner's Office told Snopes on Sept. 16 that Roark's statement was "all they would give" on Reed's case. However, the Clarion Ledger reported a statement from the office on Reed's death that read, in part, "We can confirm that the deceased did not suffer any lacerations, contusions, compound fractures, broken bones, or injuries consistent with an assault. At this time, there is no evidence to suggest the individual was physically attacked before his death." The office did not respond to multiple subsequent calls from Snopes to ask for a copy of this statement. Other news outlets also reported the statement.
We also reached out to DSU police and the Cleveland police for their latest statements on Reed's death. A spokesperson for the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations said the bureau was only assisting the investigation so it could not provide further information.
According to a Sept. 16 Vicksburg Post report (archived), Vicksburg police Capt. Curtis Judge confirmed there was no connection between Zukatis' and Reed's deaths. Judge also said Zukatis was white. We reached out to Vicksburg police to confirm the details in this report.
Peeler gave the following information about Reed's death on Sept. 15, (at 1:35):
At approximately 7:05 a.m. the university police was notified of what appeared to be the body of a black male hanging from a tree central campus near the DSU pickleball courts. We later identified the male subject to be 21-year-old Reed of Granada, Mississippi.
Mr. Reed's next of kin has been notified. At this time there are no, there is no evidence of foul play. While there is no evidence of foul play we've — the body has been retrieved by Bolivar County Coroner's Office.
Jones also said police initially told Reed's grandfather that Reed died in his dorm before the family later learned university employees found him hanging from a tree in the center of campus. During a Sept. 17 news conference, Peeler said he didn't have "any knowledge of any calls the grandfather received."
Peeler said that "there are videos" related to Reed's death but did not elaborate on what those videos showed. During that same news conference, DSU President Dan Ennis also responded to reports claiming the university did not inform Reed's family of his death, saying the university could communicate only through Reed's chosen next of kin one, which, according to Peeler, was Reed's grandfather.
According to WAPT, a TV news station in Jackson, Mississippi, Reed's family described him as "our little quiet light" who was "sweet, well mannered, and would give you the world if he could."
Investigations into Reed and Zukatis' deaths were ongoing at the time of this writing.