Black Man Found Hanging From Tree In Georgia Committed Suicide

[FLPanhandle]

Source: Huffington Post

The death of Roosevelt Champion III, the black Georgia man who on Monday was found hanging from a tree, has been ruled a suicide by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

A forensic autopsy was performed on Champion Tuesday morning, the GBI told The Huffington Post in a statement, noting: "The results of the autopsy are that the manner of death is suicide and the cause of death is hanging. After a thorough autopsy examination, there was no evidence of any inflicted trauma to Champion’s body."

Law enforcement said that Champion was hanging by a strap like those used to secure cargo on car roofs, with no visible wounds and his feet brushing the ground, NBC reports.

Investigators initially found no signs of struggle or other trauma on Champion’s body, which could indicate foul play, according to Rusty Andrews, deputy director at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, talking to Action 2 News Monday.

Champion had been interviewed in connection with the murder of a woman on May 2 but had not been charged, Andrews told the station.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/12/roosevelt-champion-hanging_n_7260664.html

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Probably won't change anyone's minds from yesterdays newstory, but it was what I suspected it to be....suicide.

[AuntPatsy]

1. Don't believe the finding..

[sharp_stick]

2. Why not

do you have any evidence to the contrary?

[AuntPatsy]

4. Well obviously I have two choices on what to believe, I can easily disregard their evidence...

It isn't enough.."

[sharp_stick]

7. I suppose

fortunately you're "feelings" have no legal basis.

[AuntPatsy]

11. Unfortunately their feelings, oops findings do have legal finality

[ileus]

29. It's all some need.

[yeoman6987]

26. Wow! Speechless. Did you see the evidence?

[Abouttime]

42. I don't either

The Feds need to look into this, there might be a local kkk (tea party) that helped this poor soul up to that tree branch.

[onecaliberal]

3. I'm not buying this for one second.

[mia]

5. Hard to believe this conclusion.

May he rest in peace.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

6. Was there a note?

[MosheFeingold]

20. There usually is not a note n/t

[Reter]

32. I feel whenever there's not a note, it's usually murder

Who would kill themselves without an explanation? If you are going to ruin your families lives, common courtesy would be to leave a note.

[MosheFeingold]

43. I understand your point

But I also believe (with certain huge exceptions, most notably mental illness) that suicide is an extremely selfish act, so I am not all that surprised they would be discourteous.

And regardless of what we think, a note is not common for whatever reason. Rates run about 1/6.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_note

[Quackers]

47. From somebody who has considered suicide,

Writing a suicide note makes you relive or face the issues that's causing the suicidal thoughts. By avoiding writing a note, you can avoid facing the pain. That's just my experience though.

[Sunlei]

8. mental trauma from the police 'interview'

[7962]

9. So far, looks like your comment is spot on.

[FLPanhandle]

10. Emotions overrule logic for most people

The statistics and odds pointed to suicide, but logic doesn't always apply.

I have my emotional hot topics too where I don't see things logically, so I can't judge too much.

[crim son]

12. There have been too many instances where the "facts" of certain

racially-charged cases have been fixed to ensure a particular outcome, so I don't believe that having doubt in this case is entirely an irrational, emotional response. I'm curious if many people choose death by hanging from a tree as their way out. There was another one in the news recently, in Miss. that was widely reported but it could happen ten times a day for all I know.

[NutmegYankee]

45. It is the very common method in developing countries.

In Bangladesh for instance, 31,857 people chose hanging for suicide in the period from 2002-2009.

[redruddyred]

13. who commits suicide on a tree, outside, in public.

I thought the usual method was with a tie in the closet.
betcha he had help.

[7962]

15. My teachers son did exactly that. In the woods behind the school.

So yes, it does happen.

[redruddyred]

21. holy crap that's awful. nt

[NaturalHigh]

17. "I thought the usual method was with a tie in the closet."

I'm not really sure, but I kind of doubt that. The method you described would probably result in a painful, panicked death by strangulation. The goal of a suicide by hanging is to break the neck, resulting in death in just a few seconds.

[NutmegYankee]

46. Outside of a judicial hanging (long drop), breaking of the neck doesn't happen.

Nearly all suicides by hanging are by asphyxiation. The reality is many people do not panic because the rope cuts off the blood flow to the brain and they lose consciousness within seconds as if put into a sleep hold.

[Xithras]

22. Usually it's not in public, per se, but it's fairly common.

It's hard to tell what's going through someones mind once they choose to commit suicide, but comments and notes left by people who have done it tend to suggest that it's an attempt to save their loved ones from being the person to find their bodies afterward. I read in another article that he'd been staying with his mother, so that certainly fits the profile. People who live alone often kill themselves at home, because they aren't as worried about that sort of thing.

When someone hangs themselves in a public place, they'll typically choose a spot remote enough so that nobody will interfere, but where their body will still be found at some point. A secluded tree in a park or on a nearby property, a low bridge in a less traveled area...somewhere like that.

[redruddyred]

41. I bet a black dude

would think twice b4 hanging himself from a tree.
especially if he didn't want to upset his momma.

[Xithras]

44. Suicidal people aren't usually thinking about the political or social implications of their deaths.

And he no doubt knew that his mother was going to be upset. He just didn't want her to be the one to find the body.

[redruddyred]

48. really? because all the black dudes I know have that shit on their minds constantly.

it's not easy being not-white.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

24. Homeless people

I worked in the parks department of a major city. It happens more than you think.

[Doctor_J]

34. A colleague of mine

wife informed him she was leaving with the 3 kids.

Tree, front yard, no note.

Trying to make this into something it wasn't does not help anyone or anything.

[redruddyred]

40. do you remember that black kid in new orleans who 'committed suicide'

in the back of a police car, while handcuffed?
betcha he had help too.
this was only, like six months ago.

[6000eliot]

14. Hanging from a tree=lynching

I don't care what the results of any racist inquiry say. I've heard this story before as well.

[groundloop]

16. This wasn't a 'racist inquiry' .... the GBI is actually quite good

I've lived in Georgia for many years and have never heard of a case where the GBI's findings were influenced by racism or politics. If their autopsy found that there were no signs of trauma I believe them.

Now then, maybe we could talk about why this man would have chose to commit suicide. Maybe it was mental illness, maybe he was the victim of racism which led to a deep depression, maybe he had marital or money issues, who knows. But I believe looking into that would be more productive.

[6000eliot]

25. Maybe some people wearing white hoods helped.

Sorry, they are going to have to prove independently that he wasn't lynched. I don't believe them.

[snooper2]

35. have you given them a call to let them know?

[bigdarryl]

18. Jesus!!!

[Calista241]

19. Not wanting your body to be found by your family

Is the main reason why people commit suicide away from the home. It's not that much of a stretch to apply it to this case also.

[Sgt Preston]

23. This might be important:

Champion had been interviewed in connection with the murder of a woman on May 2

Champion's death could be suicide, or could be murder, e.g., by relatives of the woman.

[Yo_Mama]

27. Well, if they don't find tox and they don't find injuries, then it is not murder.

You could be cracked on the head and hung, or you could be doped up and hung, or you could be tied up and hung. But if none of those things are true, then it is going to be suicide or accident, and in this case suicide by the circumstances.

What makes them rule out the murder is the lack of traces to show how the body could be found in the condition it was barring suicide.

[FLPanhandle]

30. Or he didn't want to go back to prison

[Nye Bevan]

28. It would be blatantly obvious if he had been murdered.

Because no way would he meekly submit to having the noose put around his neck and carried up to the branch to be hanged. There would be marks of struggling and self-defense such as scratches and bruises all over his body. Alternatively he could have been murdered some other way, such as by a beating or being shot, and then his body hung from a tree to make a statement, but again this would be obvious in the autopsy.

Plenty of folks here disbelieving the findings, but nobody explaining how somebody who is dead by hanging but whose body is otherwise unmarked could have been murdered.

[yurbud]

31. like the two shot shotgun suicide

[yurbud]

39. I don't have a strong opinion on this one

though it's kind of creepy that a black guy would pick this particular method to off himself given that it would scare the crap out of people beyond his immediate family.

[Sunlei]

33. would like to see/read the police 'interview' of this man.

people who are bullied/threatened suicide frequently.