16 Sept 2025
On Monday, September 15, 2025, Mississippi was shaken by two separate tragedies. Within hours of each other, the bodies of 21-year-old student Demartravion “Trey” Reed and 36-year-old Cory Zukatis were found hanging from trees in different cities. While officials are treating both cases as death investigations, the timing, manner of death, and Mississippi’s fraught history with racial violence have drawn public concern.
Civil rights historians note that public hangings of Black men were once used to enforce white supremacy through fear and violence. Even in the modern era, when such cases are ruled suicides, communities often remain skeptical. “There is a deep mistrust because of history,” said one community organizer in Jackson. “When a young Black man is found hanging, people will always question whether it was truly suicide or something more sinister.”
Lynchings have been ruled as suicides in the 21st century, but they never stopped
