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USA Herald identified 11 publicly reported cases involving Black people found hanging between June 2025 and August 2026. Authorities classified nine deaths as suicides, apparent suicides or cases without evidence of foul play. Meanwhile, two investigations remained open as of Sept. 1.

Together, the cases span eight states and involve people between 16 and 58 years old. The deaths occurred on a college campus, church property, public parkland, a golf course, wooded trails and residential property. Some attracted national attention, while others remained local stories.

The available evidence does not establish a wave of modern lynchings. Likewise, investigators have not connected any extremist organization to the deaths reviewed. However, the lack of evidence establishing racial violence does not make the public reaction irrational.

For Black Americans, the image of a body hanging from a tree carries a specific historical meaning. Today, that history collides with neo-Nazi networks recruiting teenagers, repackaging white supremacy and training members through so-called fitness clubs. As a result, a press release alone cannot resolve the growing crisis of trust.

Author’s note: Reporting an official finding is not the same as endorsing it. I remain personally skeptical of several conclusions examined in this report. However, my beliefs and suspicions are not evidence. Therefore, this article relies on verifiable public information, documented findings and clearly attributed statements.

What this review found

USA Herald reviewed national and local reporting, official police statements, medical-examiner findings and published family interviews. Specifically, the review covers cases reported between Jan. 1, 2025, and Sept. 1, 2026.

However, the 11 cases do not represent a complete national census. No searchable federal database separately tracks Black people found hanging in public or outdoor locations. Instead, death records generally classify cases by cause and manner. They do not account for the racial and historical meaning of the discovery scene.

For that reason, the review includes only cases in which established reporting or an official statement confirmed the person’s race and the circumstances. USA Herald excluded an Aug. 29 report involving a man at a Louisville, Kentucky, park. Authorities had not confirmed his identity, race or the underlying incident.

In addition, USA Herald separated one custodial death from the core count. Eighteen-year-old Saniyah Cheatham died in an NYPD holding cell in July 2025. The medical examiner ruled her death a suicide. Her family, however, disputed that conclusion and demanded surveillance footage.

Cheatham’s death raises separate questions about government custody and institutional responsibility. Therefore, combining it with outdoor and public-property cases would obscure those differences.

The names below link to original reports that provide additional coverage and, in many cases, photographs. USA Herald has not republished family portraits without permission.

Five cases received final suicide findings

The first case in this review occurred June 11, 2025, in Albany, New York. That morning, Albany officers found a 58-year-old Black man hanging from a tree near Green and Westerlo streets.

Police did not publicly identify him. However, relatives and community advocates identified him as Earl Smith. The medical examiner later ruled his death a suicide.

According to Albany police, detectives interviewed witnesses, reviewed video and examined the scene. The department found no evidence of criminal activity. Even so, relatives and activists asked officials to provide more information about the evidence supporting that conclusion.

Three months later, a faculty member found 21-year-old Demartravion “Trey” Reed hanging from a tree near the pickleball courts at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi.

Almost immediately, rumors claimed Reed had suffered broken bones and other injuries before his death. The Bolivar County coroner rejected those claims. Specifically, the coroner reported no fractures, lacerations, contusions or injuries consistent with an assault.

Mississippi’s state medical examiner listed hanging as the cause of death and suicide as the manner. In addition, the FBI and U.S. attorney’s office received the investigative materials for review.

Still, Reed’s family sought an independent autopsy through civil rights attorney Ben Crump. In July 2026, relatives told the Mississippi Free Press that they never received the completed report. They also said they could no longer obtain responses from Crump’s office.

Consequently, the missing report creates a legitimate transparency concern. Its absence, however, does not invalidate the state autopsy by itself.

On Nov. 13, 2025, authorities found 39-year-old Torrance “Tory” Medley at the Brookfield Hills Golf Course in Wisconsin. Police classified his death as a suicide and found no evidence of foul play.

Medley’s family did not accept the conclusion without seeing the supporting evidence. Instead, relatives asked officials to explain how investigators reached it. They also requested access to the findings.

Their questions concern transparency. At the same time, no verified evidence identifies another person as responsible for Medley’s death.

Police responded May 8 after someone discovered 16-year-old Juliana Umba Nzita on church property in Charlotte, North Carolina. She had disappeared several days earlier.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police ruled her death a suicide and closed the case. Investigators reported no defensive wounds or signs of physical or sexual assault. Furthermore, they found no evidence of foul play, outside involvement or relevant video.

However, authorities did not conduct an official autopsy. Police said their suicide determination made one unnecessary. Nzita’s relatives later sought an independent autopsy and retained an attorney.

Meanwhile, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee questioned how police handled the case. After meeting with investigators, the committee chairman said members better understood the investigation. Nevertheless, the committee continued to evaluate whether it had additional questions.

The lack of an official autopsy does not prove that police reached the wrong conclusion. It does, however, leave the family and public with less independent forensic information.

The fifth final determination involved 21-year-old Justice Kai James. Authorities found James unresponsive near the cafeteria at Turner Job Corps in Albany, Georgia, on June 21.

The medical examiner ruled the death a suicide. Likewise, Albany police ruled out foul play after investigators interviewed students and staff.

James’ death also exposed concerns among students about conditions and communication at the federally funded training center. Those concerns do not establish a connection to his death. Still, they remained part of the broader response on campus.

Preliminary cases require careful language

Some agencies announced that evidence supported suicide or showed no foul play before the public received a final medical-examiner report. Although those conclusions carry weight, they do not carry the same finality as a completed autopsy ruling.

Authorities found 21-year-old Kyle Bassinga in a wooded section of Fair Oaks Park near Marietta, Georgia, on Feb. 18.

Cobb County police reviewed surveillance footage, interviewed witnesses and collected evidence from the scene. According to the department, the evidence showed Bassinga was alone and revealed no signs of foul play. However, his final autopsy results remained pending when police announced that the investigation was nearing completion.

Bassinga’s family described him as kind, thoughtful and intelligent. They said he loved music, nature and the people around him. In addition, the family expressed confidence in the investigation, requested privacy and urged the public to avoid speculation.

That statement matters. Activists may question a case, but their suspicions should not become the family’s position when relatives have said otherwise.

On June 18, 27-year-old To’Nea Nicole Miller died near Gwen Cherry Park in Miami. Family members, local journalists and the NAACP said someone found her hanging. The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, however, did not disclose that detail in its statement.

The sheriff’s office said the evidence remained consistent with suicide. Detectives found no evidence of foul play and closed the investigation June 26. Nevertheless, officials promised to review any credible new information.

Miller’s relatives did not agree among themselves. Her sister publicly rejected the suicide conclusion. By contrast, an aunt said she accepted it after speaking with the investigator and medical examiner.

Therefore, describing the entire family as rejecting the conclusion would erase that difference. One relative challenged the finding, while another said the evidence persuaded her.

Michigan State Police reached a preliminary conclusion after searchers located 28-year-old Jerard “Jay” Jackson near the Hart-Montague Trail on June 30. Jackson had attended the Electric Forest music festival in Rothbury, Michigan.

Police said Jackson left the festival alone and left his phone and other belongings behind. Later, investigators located his rental vehicle with his wallet and keys inside.

State police said the evidence indicated suicide and showed no sign of foul play. However, the department continued investigating while it awaited the medical examiner’s final report. Its public statement offered a preliminary assessment, not a completed medical ruling.

Raleigh family asked the public to stop

First responders went to downtown Raleigh on Aug. 15 after receiving a report about a 32-year-old Black man hanging from a tree. The discovery occurred while the city hosted CaribMask events. Soon afterward, images and speculation spread online.

USA Herald is not publishing his name. His family asked the public to protect his identity and stop circulating theories about his death.

The Raleigh Police Department released a detailed account after rumors intensified. According to police, video showed the man arriving alone and walking toward the location while carrying an electrical cord.

His mother also confirmed that he had experienced mental-health concerns, police said. Investigators described the death as a suicide and reported no evidence of foul play. Meanwhile, the North Carolina medical examiner continued reviewing the case.

The family’s privacy request deserves the same weight as demands for transparency in other cases. After all, accountability does not require stripping a family of control over a loved one’s identity.

Two investigations remain unresolved

The most prominent open case involves 29-year-old Tasia Fortune, a mother of four who lived in Jackson, Mississippi. Authorities began investigating after someone discovered her body behind a vacant home Aug. 3.

Fortune spent much of her childhood in foster care. Her family described her as a gifted student and cross-country athlete who later struggled with homelessness and addiction. Despite those struggles, she repeatedly returned to Jackson because she wanted to remain close to her children.

During the investigation, Jackson police identified and interviewed a person of interest. Authorities held that individual on an unrelated matter but did not call the person a suspect.

That distinction matters. A person of interest does not necessarily face suspicion of committing a crime. Similarly, an unrelated detention does not establish involvement in Fortune’s death.

Her mother, Christy Spivey, rejected the possibility that Fortune died by suicide. However, she also told Mississippi Today that she did not believe race provided the likely motive. Spivey suspected something personal but understood why the circumstances produced fear.

Medical officials completed an autopsy but had not released the cause or manner of death by Sept. 1. Therefore, reporters should not describe the case as a suicide, homicide or lynching while those findings remain pending.

https://youtube.com/shorts/2lofS4iPL6c?si=IGoOCURHOeooChLM

Video credit: @TheDonLemonShow on YouTube

The newest verified case involves 38-year-old Demetrius Eugene Fleming. Emergency crews found him dead at a residence in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, on Aug. 21.

Police Chief Lawrence Wiggins called it an “open, equivocal death investigation.” He said responders found Fleming connected to a ligature. However, police did not disclose its type.

Someone close to Fleming reportedly called 911 about an attempted suicide but was not at the scene. Even so, Wiggins said investigators had not adopted a fixed theory. He promised to let the evidence determine the conclusion.

So far, no public evidence identifies another person as responsible. The autopsy remained pending.

Hanging and lynching are not synonyms

A lynching is not simply a death involving hanging. Historically, attackers also used shootings, beatings, burnings and other forms of murder. Instead, mob or extrajudicial violence used to punish, terrorize and enforce social control defined the crime.

The Equal Justice Initiative has documented 4,084 racial-terror lynchings in 12 Southern states between 1877 and 1950. In addition, its researchers identified more than 300 cases elsewhere.

Many became public spectacles. White crowds gathered to watch attackers torture and kill Black men, women and children. Afterward, spectators turned photographs of bodies into postcards.

Meanwhile, local officials often tolerated the violence or participated in it. As a result, prosecutors rarely held the perpetrators accountable.

Congress enacted the Emmett Till Antilynching Act in 2022. The law recognizes lynching as a federal hate crime under defined circumstances. However, federal prosecution requires evidence of criminal conduct and bias. The visual appearance of a death cannot establish either element.

Calling a death a lynching before the evidence supports that conclusion creates two problems. First, it can falsely accuse unknown people of murder. Second, it can weaken the meaning of a crime rooted in racial terror.

Still, correct terminology does not require ignoring history. A death may qualify as a suicide and still evoke the image of lynching. Both facts can exist at once.

National data do not show one simple trend

The available national figures do not support a claim that every measure of racial hatred or extremist activity is rising.

For example, the FBI reported 10,606 hate-crime incidents in its comparable 2025 dataset. That represented a 7% decline from 2024. Nearly 16,800 agencies participated in the collection, covering about 95% of the population.

However, those figures measure crimes that law enforcement agencies receive and report. They do not capture every threat, propaganda campaign, private gathering or unreported act of intimidation.

The Southern Poverty Law Center’s group counts also present a mixed picture. Its combined number of hate and antigovernment groups declined from 1,430 in 2023 to 1,263 in 2025. Within that total, however, the number classified specifically as hate groups rose from 533 to 556.

Therefore, a falling overall total can coexist with growth inside a particular movement. These measurements track different conduct. Journalists should not force them into a single declaration that hate is either uniformly rising or uniformly falling.

White supremacist recruitment is changing

The clearest documented development does not involve a return to white hoods and formal Klan membership. Instead, modern organizers use softer names and ordinary activities to introduce people to extremist ideology.

Active Clubs promote fitness, boxing, mixed martial arts and male fellowship. Behind that presentation, researchers describe decentralized neo-Nazi groups that combine physical training with propaganda and preparation for political violence.

The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project recorded Active Club involvement in more than 200 events across 35 states. Notably, the network began organizing U.S. chapters in 2022.

ACLED also documented an Ohio chapter’s transformation into the Ohio Nationalist Network. After rebranding, the group expanded beyond martial arts into demonstrations and community activity.

The names sound less threatening than “neo-Nazi organization.” Consequently, they provide useful recruitment tools. A teenager searching for exercise, belonging or masculine identity may encounter fitness videos before encountering explicit racial doctrine.

USA Herald previously reported on a 13-year-old’s alleged school attack plan that involved white supremacist symbols and an interest in extremist mass shooters. That case shows how racial propaganda can reach children before adults recognize the danger.

Moreover, the movement has expanded its outreach to minors. An August report from the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism identified 46 Youth Club chapters worldwide, up from 19 in 2025. The organization also found 13 new U.S. youth chapters.

Those clubs target teenagers between 15 and 18. For example, some recruit through Instagram, YouTube, Telegram and connections formed through Roblox. Separate organizations now target teenage girls.

Recruiters use sanitized language about culture, identity and supportive roles. Beneath that branding, however, the groups circulate Nazi symbols and white-nationalist propaganda.

One statistic in the report requires caution. GPAHE described the increase from 187 active chapters in 2025 to 220 in 2026 as 28%. By contrast, the raw figures show an increase of about 18%.

Its 142% calculation for Youth Clubs, from 19 to 46, is mathematically consistent. Therefore, the discrepancy does not erase the documented expansion of youth branches. Still, journalists should not repeat the larger percentage without qualification.

Analysis: Fear does not require a conspiracy

Even if every completed suicide finding reviewed here is accurate, the public reaction still demands attention.

Black communities do not view these scenes without context. Instead, generations of documented racial violence, institutional concealment and official indifference shape that response. People also see extremist organizations changing their names, recruiting children and presenting white nationalism as fitness, friendship or community service.

That context does not turn every hanging into a hate crime. However, it does raise the cost of careless communication by authorities.

When officials announce a conclusion without explaining the evidence they can legally share, they create an information vacuum. Consequently, social media fills it with unsupported claims, recycled photographs and accusations that move faster than an autopsy.

USA Herald documented a similar conflict in the Nolan Wells investigation. In that case, an independent autopsy left the cause and manner of death undetermined, while conflicting accounts and incomplete evidence intensified the family’s distrust.

Authorities cannot release every private detail. Families have rights, and responsible suicide reporting should avoid graphic descriptions. Nevertheless, agencies can explain whether investigators reviewed video, interviewed witnesses, examined digital evidence or waited for a medical ruling.

These cases also show that Black families are not a monolith. Some challenged official conclusions. Others, by contrast, accepted them, requested privacy or warned outsiders against claiming to speak for them.

Ultimately, respecting Black communities requires authorities and journalists to take their fears seriously. It also requires respect for individual families when their words do not fit a viral narrative.

What remains unknown

Authorities have not disclosed Tasia Fortune’s cause or manner of death. Meanwhile, police continue to investigate Demetrius Fleming’s death. Public reporting also lacked final medical findings in several cases that agencies initially described as apparent suicides or investigations without foul play.

Trey Reed’s relatives say they never received the independent autopsy commissioned on their behalf. In addition, police closed Juliana Nzita’s case without an official autopsy. Tory Medley’s family continued seeking the evidence behind his suicide ruling.

Those facts represent legitimate reporting gaps. However, reporters should not convert them into proof of homicide, racial motive or a coordinated cover-up.

The public record establishes 11 deaths that drew attention because of how people discovered them. It also reveals uneven disclosure and several unresolved questions. Separately, researchers have documented an expanding youth-recruitment strategy within specific neo-Nazi networks.

Those sources do not connect the networks to any person named in this report.

Journalism must hold both realities at once. America’s history gives Black communities reason to recognize the image immediately. Nevertheless, history alone cannot determine how a particular person died.

If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental-health crisis, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.