'Suicide' ruling in North Carolina teen's death challenged in new review of case

Forensic pathologist questions procedures followed by authorities after Lennon Lacy, 17, was found hanging from a swing set in a largely white trailer park.

A forensic pathologist who has reviewed official reports relating to the death of Lennon Lacy, the black teenager who was found hanging from a noose in North Carolina, has questioned procedures followed by local and state authorities and challenged the official determination of suicide.

Dr Christena Roberts, a Florida-based specialist in crime scene pathology, was brought in by the North Carolina branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which has been advising Lacy’s family as they try to get to the bottom of what happened to the 17-year-old high school student and football player. He was found hanging from a swing set in a largely white trailer park in Bladenboro, a small town in the south of the state, on the morning of 29 August, just hours before a big game in his school’s football calendar.

An official autopsy carried out by the chief medical examiner, Dr Deborah Radisch, soon after Lacy’s body was discovered concluded that the cause of death was “asphyxia due to hanging”. But both the medical examiner investigation report and the death certificate went further, listing the manner of death as “suicide”.

Roberts reviewed all these stages in the official investigation on behalf of the NAACP, and met with the medical examiner. In her findings, she raises several concerns about the procedures that were followed and the conclusions that were reached.


http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/nov/22/north-carolina-teenager-suicide-ruling-challenged-lennon-lacy