Case of Chicago-area man found dead against tree with rope around neck 'not a lynching': NC sheriff

HENDERSON, N.C. — A death investigation involving a Chicago-area truck driver in Vance County, North Carolina is sparking questions and rumors online across the country.

Javion Magee, 21, was found dead in a rural area on Wednesday. Investigators said Magee, who was Black, was not far from his truck, leaning with his back up against a tree and a rope around his neck.

Magee’s family in Chicago is upset and demanding answers. Many of them are even on their way to North Carolina in an attempt to pressure investigators to release more information about what happened.

“I understand there’s over 1,000 hits on TikTok (accusing) the sheriff’s office of not being transparent, not providing information to the family, and that is not true,” Vance County Sheriff Curtis R. Brame said. “There’s been information put out there that there’s a lynching. 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. There was not a knot in the rope. So therefore, it was not a lynching here in Vance County.”

SEE ALSO: Neighbor charged with murder of missing couple from California nudist ranch

Brame told ABC Raleigh-Durham affiliate WTVD there were no signs of foul play in Magee’s death. He said Magee went to a nearby Walmart shortly before he died. That is where he is believed to have bought the rope found around his neck.

Magee’s body has been sent to the medical examiner for an autopsy to officially determine the cause of death.

Brame said as soon as a preliminary report comes back from that autopsy, he will share it with Magee’s family, and then make a decision about how to share it with the public.

Brame also said the State Bureau of Investigation is now involved in the case.