Frederick Jermaine Carter was found on December 3, with his body hanging from an oak tree in North Greenwood, MS, a predominantly white section of Leflore County in Mississippi.
North Greenwood is known as an area that black people are sometimes afraid to visit. Carter was with his stepfather, who said that he wandered off from an area in which they were both working.
County Sheriff Ricky Banks told the media that a mental condition led to Carter drifting off and hanging himself. He also said that there is no evidence that there was a crime committed, but the community is outraged that the location of Carter’s death was never taped off as a crime scene and they also believe that the investigation was inadequate.
Greenwood has a stain on its national reputation when it comes to aggressive behavior toward African-Americans.
Just 10 miles north of the town is where Emmett Till was murdered in 1955. Till’s alleged killers were acquitted of the crime, even though the boy was shot in the head and had his eyes gouged out. Till’s attackers were angry that he’d allegedly whistled at a white woman.
There are a lot of unanswered questions here and State Senator David Jordan has offered to help the family, saying that he doesn’t buy the story being presented by authorities:
“There are a lot of unanswered questions. Carter supposedly had rope in his pocket but didn’t have anything to cut it with? Why wasn’t the scene of the crime blocked off? That tree limb is nearly 12 feet high., I’m 6’2″ and I can’t see how I could maneuver to do that, so how could a boy his height hang himself like that?” said Jordan.
The mysterious death of Frederick Jermaine Carter shows all the classic signs of significant injustice. Given the history of Mississippi, what do you think?
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