Justice Department says they have found no evidence of a homicide despite family members’ insistance Otis Byrd would not kill himself

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The Justice Department says investigators have found no evidence that the hanging death of a man in Mississippi was a homicide.

The agency said in a news release Friday that the civil rights investigation into the death of Otis Byrd has been closed.

Byrd, 54, was last seen alive on 2 March at a Vicksburg Casino. He was found March 19, hanging by a bed sheet from a branch of a tree behind his rented house in Claiborne County. Family members have insisted Byrd would not kill himself.

Lawyers hired by the family have said they will conduct an investigation separate from the one pursued by state and federal authorities.