With New Evidence, JULIAN Demands Mississippi DA File Murder Charges In 2018 Lynching Case of Willie Jones Jr.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Sierra Salser
With New Evidence, JULIAN Demands Mississippi DA File Murder Charges In 2018 Lynching Case of Willie Jones Jr.
Former New York Chief Medical Examiner & Chief Forensic Pathologist releases homicide evidence in lynching case of a 21-year-old Black man
April, 2024 – Today, the former Chief Medical Examiner of New York City, and former Chief Forensic Pathologist for the New York State Police released an independent medical exam report providing evidence that the death of Willie Andrew Jones Jr. – the victim of a suspected lynching case Scott County, Mississippi in 2018 originally ruled a suicide – was indeed a homicide. JULIAN, a civil and human rights advocacy organization, demands that the alleged perpetrator, Harold O'Bryant, and another suspect be charged with the murder of Jones Jr.
Mississippi is infamous for its history of lynchings and racially motivated killings. When Willie Jones Jr. was found hanging from a tree in the dead of night in a predominantly white Scott County, the sheriff’s department ruled the hanging a suicide despite compelling evidence that told an entirely different and sinister reality – that Jones was lynched. The medical examiner’s letter states that Willie Jones Jr. was first strangled with a belt tied around his neck and subsequently hanged after losing consciousness.
“Mr. Jones could not have hanged himself from the tree after the belt was tightened around his neck causing him to lose consciousness and collapse within seconds. Another person or persons would have had to lift his limp, unconscious body and hang him from the seven-foot-high tree limb,” said Michael M. Baden, Medical Examiner in the official report. “My opinion, based on my education, training, experience and review of the above materials, is that Willie Jones was strangled by the belt and his limp body was then hanged from the tree limb by the yellow rope. The cause of death is ligature strangulation and hanging. The manner of death is homicide.”
The independent medical examiner, Michael M. Baden, M.D., volunteered to re-examine the case of Willie Jones Jr. at the request of JULIAN, who provides legal, policy, advocacy, crisis management and movement-building services to victims and survivors of discrimination. Dr. Baden is known for previous investigations of high-profile deaths in Mississippi, including the assassination of Medgar Evers, who was lynched in 1963 by a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
As racial violence and injustices continue to plague Black communities across the state of Mississippi, JULIAN re-opened the case to ensure justice is delivered to Mr. Jones’ family, who believed Mr. Jones was lynched. Attorney Jill Collen Jefferson, founder and president of JULIAN, has been advocating for accountability for blatant and racist injustices against Black, brown, and indigenous peoples. JULIAN – the only organization in the nation with a focus on modern-day lynchings – has defined the term 'modern-day lynching,’ whose official definition is: a discriminatory killing after the year 2000 committed by more than one person for an alleged offense with or without a legal trial. This definition of lynching expands the current definition and includes killings based on gender or sexuality.
“Lynching is not a thing of the past, and so many families, specifically in the South, continue to seek justice for their loved ones who were murdered out of hate and overlooked by police,” said Jill Collen Jefferson, President and Founder of JULIAN. “The evidence is clear, Willie Jones Jr. was lynched, and the DA must hold the suspects accountable.”
###
About JULIAN
JULIAN is a national civil and human rights organization providing legal, policy, advocacy, crisis management and movement-building services to victims and survivors of discrimination. JULIAN’s mission is to attack discrimination in all forms in order to exact justice, foster equality, and advance the doctrines of civil and human rights law. The organization’s intention is to revive the spirit, effectiveness, strategies, and impact of the civil rights movement.