Marco McMillian, Mississippi, US mayoral candidate's body body was found beaten and burned.
A person with direct knowledge of the investigation confirmed to The Associated Press that McMillian had some bruises and there were burns on at least one area of his body.
The person wasn’t authorized to publicly comment and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The cause of death has not been released. An autopsy was performed, but toxicology tests are pending, and authorities say it could take two weeks to get those results.
An investigation began Feb. 26 after McMillian’s SUV slammed head-on into another vehicle. But McMillian was not in the car, authorities say, and his body was found the next day.
Womack said the coroner told family members that someone dragged McMillian’s body under a fence and left it near a Mississippi River levee last week.
McMillian, 34, was a candidate for mayor of Clarksdale in the Mississippi Delta.
“We feel that this was not a random act of violence based on the condition of the body when it was found,” said a statement released by his campaign.
The slaying received significant attention, in part, because McMillian’s campaign said he was the first openly gay, viable candidate for public office in Mississippi.
Ebony Magazine in 2004 had recognized Marco McMillian as one of the nation’s “30 up-and-coming African Americans” under age 30.
Sheriff’s deputies last week charged 22-year-old Lawrence Reed with murder in the case.
- NYDailynews
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