Local law enforcement deny a lynching took place in Vance County, despite calls for justice for a Black truck driver found dead with a rope around his neck in Henderson going viral on social media.
Vance County Sheriff Curtis R. Brame told The News & Observer’s newsgathering partner ABC11 that the information reported on social media about 21-year-old old Javion Magee, of Chicago, being lynched in Henderson is inaccurate.
“There is not a lynching. 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,” Brame said.
Despite those claims, lawyers and other civil rights organizations are calling for a thorough and transparent investigation.
Search warrant outlines Magee’s movements
A Vance County search warrant outlines the steps investigators have taken to investigate Magee’s death and the evidence they have found so far. The warrant allowed officials to search Magee’s white semi-tractor.
On Sept. 11 at 10:10 a.m. the Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to 285 Vance Mill Road in Henderson after a report of a possible suicide, according to the warrant.
Detective Labra found a man with a distinctive forearm tattoo wearing a white short-sleeve shirt and black shorts sitting at the base of a tree with a blue rope wrapped around his neck, the warrant states. The detective’s first name wasn’t included on the warrant.
The man’s legs were resting on the ground, facing away from the tree. He was wearing dark Crocs, plastic clog-like shoes that slip on, the warrant states.
“The decedent displayed no visible signs of assault or any outside trauma to the body,” the warrant states.
At the man’s feet, investigators found ripped paper wrapping which displayed the brand of the blue rope and Walmart.com, the warrant states. Unopened “colors sheet wraps” which are used for smoking, were also found.
A detective contacted the medical examiner, who made arrangements to transport the body to Raleigh.
Since Labra hadn’t found any identification, he went to Walmart in Henderson, the warrant states. There he linked the information on the wrapping to Magee using the self-checkout to pay $4.20 for the rope at 6:20 p.m. on Sept. 10, the warrant states.
Walmart surveillance video showed Magee, wearing the same clothing that he had on when he was found by the tree, leaving the Walmart alone and entering the driver’s side door of a large white semi-trailer.
The detective relayed the information to other investigators at the scene where Magee was found. Investigators located the semi-tractor about 70 yards away, the warrant states. In the truck, investigators found a Walmart receipt and Magee’s identification.
Investigators also reached out to KLLM Trucking, which tracked the movements of the tractor being driven by Magee. That information indicated that Magee went to a Hampton Inn on Ruin Creek Road in Henderson about 15 minutes after he left Walmart, the warrant states.
Surveillance footage showed a man wearing the same clothing as Magee walking to the front desk and leaving around 6:36 p.m., the warrant states.
Other surveillance footage showed Magee, still alone, purchasing a wrapper at a local smoke shop.
Surveillance footage from a Shell gas station then shows the truck traveling on Vance Mill Road, making a left turn into T& R Tractor and Trailer Repair. A man, wearing a white shirt and black shorts, is later seen leaving the white trailer and walking alone with a white bag toward the direction of where Magee’s body was found the next day. The footage does not show him returning, the warrant states.
Officials are continuing to investigate the death and plan to review information on Magee’s cell phone and search his truck, said Mike Waters, district attorney for Vance and surrounding counties. A North Carolina medical examiner will also determine the cause of Magee’s death, said Mike Waters, district attorney for Vance and surrounding counties, Waters said.
“I feel at this point this investigation has been conducted the same way any other suspicious death investigation would be, and they are doing all that they can do,” Waters said.
Social media posts about Magee’s death
The concerns about Magee’s death appear to stem from a woman who in a TikTok video posted Thursday under the account scottieprimpin says Magee is her cousin and she and his family are concerned as law enforcement aren’t being transparent about the death investigation.
The post said that the author’s cousin was working as a truck driver in North Carolina when law enforcement told the family that Magee hung himself.
“We obviously don’t believe that,” the woman says in the post that asks others to share Magee’s story.
The woman also says that law enforcement officials will not allow Magee’s mother to identify her son and refused to send a photograph.
Social media users responded to the call, with dozens of people making their own videos in which they allege that Magee was murdered, while criticizing Henderson officials.
Magee’s family hires attorneys
Magee’s family hired national civil rights attorney Harry Daniels, who is based in Atlanta, and Lee Merritt, who is based in Philadelphia, according to a press release sent out Friday afternoon.
Daniels said in the release that Vance officials haven’t shared anything proving that Magee, who has no history of mental illness, took his own life.
“How can the police expect us to take their word for it when they won’t even let this family view the body?” Daniels said.
Daniels told The News & Observer Friday he was concerned that officials told Magee’s family that Magee died from suicide before completing a thorough investigation.
Daniels said the statement was “premature,” especially considering the history of racial tensions in the South.
Jason Keith, whose firm is based in Greensboro, is also representing the family.
The NAACP North Carolina also expressed “deep concern” about Magee’s death, calling for a thorough and transparent investigation in a press release.
”We demand a comprehensive and transparent investigation to uncover the truth behind this tragedy. As a community, we cannot rest until we have clear answers,” said NAACP North Carolina President Deborah Dicks Maxwell.
Virginia Bridges covers criminal justice in the Triangle and across North Carolina for The News & Observer. Her work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The N&O maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
This story was originally published September 13, 2024 2:31 PM.
