North Carolina investigators say they conducted a thorough investigation into the death of a black teenager who was found hanging from a swing set in August. Police ruled his death a suicide, according to a Yahoo! News with Katie Couric report.
But 17-year-old Lennon Lacy's family believes police were hasty in their investigation and left many unanswered questions about Lacy's death, such as why the shoes he was found dead in were a full size and a half too small.
"When I looked at him I knew...I said to myself, I said, 'He didn't do this...He couldn't have,'" recalled the victim's mother, Claudia, upon seeing her son's body.
Lacy, who played football at his high school, was found Aug. 29 hanging from a swing set located in a trailer park less than a mile from his home in Bladenboro.
The medical examiner ruled he died from "asphyxia due to hanging," Yahoo! News reported.
State Bureau of Investigation agents and Bladen County officials said all avenues have been explored and every lead was followed in the investigation into Lacy's death, the Fayetteville Observer reported.
The case is still open and any information that turns up will be reviewed, Bladen County District Attorney Jon David told the newspaper.
"To this point, we have not received any evidence of foul play concerning the death of Lennon Lacey," David said.
But Lacy's family is convinced he did not kill himself. An autopsy report noted he "had been depressed over the recent death of his uncle," according to Yahoo! News.
"How do you psychologically evaluate a dead person?" said Lacy's brother Pierre. "He was just too happy for life."
The NAACP also believes police rushed the investigation and that Lacy might have been killed because of his race, according to the Fayetteville Observer.
The case comes during a time when racial tensions have flared in the U.S., with a grand jury on Staten Island, New York, deciding not to charge an NYPD officer for the chokehold death of Eric Garner.
New York City erupted with outrage and protests Wednesday night, a mirroring of last week's events in Ferguson, Mo., when another grand jury determined officer Darren Wilson will not face charges for the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown.
