Police: No "Foul Play" Suspected in Hanging Death of Georgia Black Man
Roosevelt Champion, III, was found hanging from a tree in the yard of a Greensboro, Georgia, house Monday, but so far, the Georgia Bureau of Investigations says, “there is no evidence of foul play.”
The man whose property Champion’s body was discovered on told NBC Atlanta that he left his home around 6:45 a.m. local time Monday. Around noon that same day he received a call from police saying Champion had been found.
GBI agent Joe Wooten told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that Champion, 43, was “discovered a relatively new ‘orange ratchet strap’ around Champion’s neck” and the his hands and feet were not bound.
Champion had been questioned twice by the GBI last week in connection with the murder of 55-year-old Carol Lewis. But the GBI confirmed to NBC Atlanta that Champion was not a suspect in the case and “there is no evidence as of now that that murder case has anything to do with Champion’s death.”
Update, 3:24 p.m.: Following an autopsy report released today, the GBI has ruled Champion’s death a suicide.
Image via Georgia Department of Corrections. Contact the author at aleksander@gawker.com .