Family of man found dead with a rope around neck demands answers; sheriff says no foul play detected

HENDERSON, NC — The family of a black man found dead in North Carolina with a rope around his neck under a tree is demanding answers and transparency from authorities, saying there is no evidence of foul play.

Meanwhile, the Vance County Sheriff’s Office released a statement Wednesday saying an examination by the North Carolina Chief Medical Examiner’s Office found no defensive wounds or signs of physical or sexual assault. Full autopsy results, including a determination of cause of death and toxicology, were pending.

Detectives found 21-year-old Javion Magee dead under a tree with the rope around his neck on Sept. 11 in Henderson, which is 40 miles (64.4 kilometers) northeast of Raleigh, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office. A 911 caller reported the body.

Attorneys for Magee’s family spoke to reporters Wednesday demanding answers after meeting with the sheriff and his staff earlier in the day.

“This is an absolute tragedy no matter how it ends. The facts are still being pieced together, but we do know he was found hanging from a tree,” said attorney Harry Daniels.

He said the cause of death had not yet been determined and it was premature to say it was suicide.

The sheriff’s office released a detailed timeline of what happened Wednesday. Magee, a truck driver from Illinois, had come to North Carolina after picking up a load of supplies in Pennsylvania. He unloaded his truck at a Walmart distribution center in Henderson on the afternoon of Sept. 10. That evening, Magee is seen on surveillance video buying rope at a nearby Walmart.

As he left the Walmart parking lot, Magee was seen getting out of the truck to give money to a homeless man outside the entrance. Authorities questioned the homeless man, who said Magee gave them $228.

According to the sheriff’s office, Magee told the homeless man, “I don’t know how much it is, but if I had more, I’d give it to you.”

He later parked his truck in a dirt parking lot of a local business. Surveillance video shows him walking alone toward a row of trees with an object in his hand shortly before 7 p.m., before returning to his truck. Later, around 7:30 p.m., surveillance video shows him walking back toward the trees alone, the sheriff’s office said. He is not seen walking back. Authorities received a 911 call reporting his body around 10 a.m. the next morning.

Investigators said they found Magee in a sitting position with the rope wrapped tightly around his neck and the other end around a tree branch. The brand of rope was one sold by Walmart, and a detective used the packaging to determine that the rope had been purchased by Magee the previous day, the sheriff’s office said.

His truck was found unlocked with his wallet and cell phone inside, along with a Walmart receipt for the rope that matched the date and time of the surveillance footage. The sheriff’s office has obtained warrants to gain full access to his phone.

Magee’s mother, Tiara Roberson, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview last week that she received a call from an investigator on Sept. 11 that her son had been found hanging from a tree that morning. But certain details investigators provided about the circumstances of her son’s death troubled Roberson.

She said the investigator told her they had a recording of Magee going to Walmart to buy a rope, and the evidence they had ultimately pointed to suicide. Still, the family and their attorneys felt that conclusion may have been premature.

Shortly after learning of his son’s death, Javion’s father, Kori Magee, contacted the owner of the property where Javion was found, Roberson said. One of the man’s employees found Javion’s body and reported it, Roberson said. The owner also told Kori Magee that Javion was on the property with someone, but the person was unknown, Roberson said.

Magee had never made a delivery in Henderson before last week, according to the trucking company he worked for. It was also the 21-year-old’s first job as a truck driver — a job he was hired for after getting his trucking license earlier this year, investigators said.