Relatives of Black man found hanging from tree in Mississippi sue girlfriend’s family
The death of a 21-year-old Black man found hanging from a tree in the front yard of a rural Mississippi home three years ago was ruled a suicide.
But the family of Willie Andrew Jones Jr. has a different theory about what happened the night of Feb. 8, 2018.
In a lawsuit filed last month, Jones’ family alleges that he was killed by his ex-girlfriend’s step-father who disapproved of their interracial relationship. They accuse Harold J. O’Bryant Jr. of threatening Jones and using racial slurs against him.
O’Bryant has not been charged in the case. Calls from McClatchy News to phone numbers associated with O’Bryant went unanswered Monday.
Scott County Sheriff Mike Lee said in 2018 that Jones’ death was “consistent with suicide,” according to The Associated Press.
In the wrongful death lawsuit filed Dec. 28 in Hinds County Circuit Court, O’Bryant is listed as the primary defendant alongside several unnamed individuals who Jones’ family says failed to prevent his death.
Jill Collen Jefferson, a civil rights attorney at the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Julian, is representing the family. In a statement to McClatchy News on Friday, she said law enforcement have ruled multiple lynchings in the South as suicides “despite the evidence” and called on the district attorney to bring criminal charges.
“This tragedy is not an aberration,” she said. “America’s ‘last’ recorded lynching was in 1981. But the thing is, lynchings never stopped.”
According to the complaint, Jones dated a white woman in Forest, Mississippi, and had a child with her. They were reportedly separated at the time of his death, and his body was found outside the home she shared with several relatives — including her step-father, O’Bryant.
Four days before he died, he had an argument with his ex-girlfriend at her place of work, the complaint says. O’Bryant reportedly drove to the workplace and threatened Jones, referring to him as a “nappy-headed thug,” according to the lawsuit.
Jones and his ex-girlfriend were discussing getting back together when she picked him up on Feb. 8 and drove him to her house, court filings state. But he reportedly discovered she was already seeing someone, and they argued on the drive over.
The argument continued into the home, where at least nine people were present, Jefferson wrote in the complaint, citing witness statements given to law enforcement.
“At some point during the argument, defendant O’Bryant became unreasonable and retrieved a gun with the intent to confront Mr. Jones with the weapon,” the lawsuit states. But the ex-girlfriend’s mother reportedly “intervened and urged (him) to put the gun away.”
Jones then walked outside to remove himself from the argument and O’Bryant followed, according to the complaint.
O’Bryant reportedly called 911 at 10:50 p.m. — about six minutes after Jones was first seen entering the house, video surveillance showed. During the call, the lawsuit alleges, he told law enforcement Jones had hung himself and that he didn’t “want to cut him down because I don’t want to be in it.”
Jones was found hanging by a tree limb about 7.5 to 9 feet high with his feet touching the ground and no rope burns, according to the complaint.
“Moreover, when the funeral home received his body, Mr. Jones’ shoulder was dislocated, and he had scratches and bruising,” the lawsuit states.
The complaint points to potential inconsistencies in the family members’ accounts that night.
One member of the household reportedly left after the 911 call was placed and returned when law enforcement arrived but was never questioned about his whereabouts, according to court filings.
In an interview after Jones’s death, O’Bryant was quoted as saying he disapproved of interracial relationships, records show.
“I was against it,” he said, according to the complaint. “Not because I’m racist but because it ain’t right in God’s eyes. It ain’t right there.”
The lawsuit alleges O’Bryant and others at the house that night hung Jones or failed to prevent him from committing suicide. The family makes claims for negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress, among others, and is seeking monetary damages to cover the cost of the litigation, their pain and suffering as well as the life of Jones.
But it’s about more than that for his mom Tammie Townsend.
“I want justice,” she said in a statement to McClatchy News.
This story was originally published January 11, 2021 at 2:30 PM.
