Family of Javion Magee Fuels Baseless ”Lynching” Claims – Magee Purchased a Rope From Walmart Self-checkout

HENDERSON, N.C. (TND) — The family of a Black man found hanging from a rope in a tree in North Carolina addressed the media Wednesday with their attorneys calling for justice.

The sheriff’s office released surveillance footage Monday of Magee buying utility rope from the self-checkout lane at the Henderson Walmart. He is then seen walking out of the store with the rope in his hand.

Javion Magee, 21, a truck driver from the Chicago area, was found dead on Sept. 11 in a rural area of Henderson not far from his truck and leaning with his back up against a tree and a rope around his neck, according to details from the Vance County Sheriff’s Office.

Magee was reportedly making a delivery to the Walmart distribution center.

Sheriff Curtis Brame told WTVD their office was investigating and that there were no signs of foul play adding Magee went to a nearby Walmart before his death to buy the rope found around his neck.

When faced with social media rumors, Brame insisted the man’s death was not a lynching.

“I understand there’s over 1,000 hits on TikTok (accusing) the sheriff’s office of not being transparent, not providing information to the family and that is not true,” Brame said in an interview. “There’s been information put out there that there’s a lynching in Vance County. There is not a lynching in Vance County. The young man was not dangling from a tree. He was not swinging from a tree. The rope was wrapped around his neck. It was not a noose. There was not a knot in the rope, so therefore, it was not a lynching here in Vance County.”

Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt stated during the news conference that a medical examiner’s report determined there was bruising along the neck and a broken neck bone. It was added that the manner and cause of death have not been determined.

“The reason that the family has asked me to be a part of this case is because we’re not investigating a personal injury case or a wrongful death case. We’re investigating the lynching of a young man in 2024 it would be a misnomer to say that that kind of thing doesn’t happen anymore,” Merritt said.