Javion Magee death: Henderson NC investigation ‘not a lynching’ Vance County Sheriff says despite reports of hanging

HENDERSON, N.C. (WTVD) — The investigation into a Chicago man’s death in North Carolina continues as questions and rumors surrounding it grow, especially on social media.

Javion Magee, a 21-year-old truck driver from the Chicago area, was found dead in a rural area off Vanco Mill Road on Sept. 11. Investigators said he was not far from his truck, leaning with his back up against a tree and a rope around his neck. Magee was in Henderson making a delivery to the Walmart distribution center.

Magee’s family who lives in Chicago is upset and demanding answers. They are demanding transparency and more answers from the Vance County Sheriff’s Office about what happened.

Friday, Sheriff Curtis R. Brame tells ABC11 they are conducting a death investigation.

Brame told ABC11 there were no signs of foul play in Magee’s death. He said Magee went to a nearby Walmart shortly before he died. That is where he is believed to have bought the rope found around his neck. When ABC11 asked more about that, Brame declined to elaborate. He does continue to reiterate that Magee’s death is 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,” Sheriff Brame said. “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.”

Nearly a thousand miles away, Magee’s family isn’t buying the sheriff’s responses.

“A lot of this stuff does not pass the smell test and that’s a problem. The entire family is completely mortified and they are hurt, they are. They have a lot of questions and they just want to know what happened to their loved one.” said family spokesperson Candice Matthews.

Brame told ABC11 there were no signs of foul play in Magee’s death. He said Magee went to a nearby Walmart shortly before he died. That is where he is believed to have bought the rope found around his neck.

Khalil Gay who lives in Henderson said this about Magee’s death, “I mean, honestly, I think we have to acknowledge that, number one, we do live in the South, and there’s a deep history of racism and racist acts. And so people are obviously concerned about that.”

Magee’s body has been sent to the medical examiner for an autopsy to officially determine the cause of death.

Preliminary Autopsy Results

Late Friday, Sheriff Brame shared this information about Magee’s preliminary autopsy. He said the results have been shared with the family. The preliminary results showed no concrete determination of the cause of Magee’s death. There were no obvious signs of defensive wounds or scares on his limbs including arms and legs. The autopsy showed there were signs of hemorrhaging detected around the soft part of Magee’s neck.

Sheriff Brame said they are now waiting for the toxicology report to come back which could take a little longer.

“We’re going down every avenue, every aspect of all the information. We are tracking the company to try and get his GPS reading,” Sheriff Brame said.

In addition to calling in the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), Brame says he has also asked the Attorney General’s Office to assist in the investigation.