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The state NAACP chapter organized Saturday’s protest after pushing for weeks to have federal authorities look into Lacy’s death, which has roiled this town of fewer than 2,000 residents, where 80 per cent are white and 18 per cent are black. Barber said there is evidence “that suggests possible race-based foul play,” including details about Lacy’s romantic relationship with an older white woman. But Barber said he and the family have not reached any conclusions about what happened. They just want a full investigation.

Lacy’s mother, Claudia Lacy, who led the march, said she wants the truth about how her youngest son died. “When the facts add up,” she said, “I’ll be satisfied.”

“there are so many unanswered questions that I can’t help but ask,” she wrote in a column published in The Guradian. “Was he killed? Was my son lynched?”

The state medical examiner, who performed an autopsy, ruled Lacy’s death a suicide. Some residents criticized authorities for not probing further, even if to support the suicide finding. But on Friday, amid calls for federal authorities to step in, Bladen County prosecutor Jon David said in a televised news conference that the case remains open and that he welcomed help from the FBI.

“I’m asking the community to withhold their judgment on what this case is until all the facts are in,” David said.

The NAACP and the Lacy family said they do not believe that state and local authorities have an interest in probing all facets of the case. Barber said the “suspicions are deeper than feelings.”