After the body of a 20-year-old Winston-Salem State student was found hanged at a park last month, people are questioning the circumstances surrounding her death.
Kendra Shanice Reid, a sophomore at the North Carolina historically Black college, was found hanging in a wooded area of Finch Park just outside of the Lexington area on April 28.
ESSENCE has requested information from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services on the autopsy report once completed. Kelly Haight, from the Office of Communications at North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, said via email that “the reports available will be sent to you once the case is complete. Individual reports and information are not released from the Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) prior to the completion of the case.”
Larry James of the Davidson County medical examiner’s office and the county’s director of emergency services ruled Reid’s death as a suicide, the Winston-Salem Journal reports. Reid’s death certificate cites that she died from asphyxiation by hanging.
James could not be reached for comment for this story.
Sandy Jones, a spokesperson from the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, has confirmed Reid’s death but told ESSENCE that “it has not been confirmed” that her death was ruled as a suicide.
The woman’s death has sparked many questions concerning the actual cause of her death.
The Black Lives Matter of Greater Atlanta chapter has released a statement about Reid’s death.
“We are deeply saddened and shocked to learn that yet another black body is lifeless…She was loved by her community, her school and of course naturally by her family… We expect second investigation to be conducted by an private independent examiner, and anticipate a thorough full criminal investigation to be launch by either The Department of Justice’s Office of Civil Rights and The FBI.”
ESSENCE has reached out to a detective from the Lexington Police Department assigned to the case, Charles Hall.
This is a developing story.