Lennon Lacy's Girlfriend Speaks Out, Alleges 17-Year-Old Was Lynched
Lennon Lacy, 17, was found hanging from a swing set in North Carolina in Aug. this year, and now his girlfriend has spoken out and revealed she fears his death may be related to their relationship.
Michelle Brimhall, 32, and a mother of three, told Daily Mail that she had been dating Lacy for some time before his death. People in the small town of Bladenboro were reportedly not happy about their relationship, given their age difference and the fact that Lacy was black and Brimhall white. Brimhall explained that there could be a connection between his death and their relationship.
"I believe Lennon was murdered. The police ruled his death as suicide but Lennon would never harm himself," Brimhall said. "He's got too much love for life."
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The FBI decided to investigate Lacy's death after his family and the NAACP raised concerns about the case. The medical examiner ruled the teen's death a suicide without waiting for toxicology reports; his shoes were two sizes too small; he could not have reached the top of the swing set to hang himself, and the belts used in the "suicide" were not his own. Brimhall added that since his death, Lacy's grave has been desecrated.
Not long after Lacy was found dead, Brimhall moved her family away from Bladenboro in order to keep them safe. She noted that while she was in a relationship with Lacy, neighbors in the community hung a sign stating "n***** keep out" and flew a Confederate flag.
"Neighbors had told me they were against interracial relationships and it was 'not right' me being with a black guy. We tried to keep it [our relationship] a secret. We would walk to the store together but we never held hands or kissed or any of that stuff out in public. The Ku Klux Klan held marches in the town," Brimhall explained.
Lacy's family was not thrilled with the relationship and twice confronted Brimhall about it, and they would lie and say they had stopped seeing one another. The relationship finally came to a stop when Lacy returned to high school and Brimhall began college. She did, however, see him just hours before he was found dead.
"When I heard it was Lennon I felt dead inside, like I wasn't there anymore. I turned around and started walking and I couldn't breathe. Lennon wouldn't hurt nobody. He didn't do drugs; he didn't mess around with any gangs. He went to school and played football. That was all he did. I knew that they found him hanging. It didn't make any sense. If they beat him up, why did they have to hang him and kill him?" she asked.
Brimhall has never believed that Lacy would take his own life, and neither has his own family and friends. They noted that some reported Lacy had been beaten and had bruises on his face and was found in an area known for not being welcome or friendly to black people. Lacy's family church has worked with the NAACP and the Lacy family to persuade the federal government to look at the case.
Earlier this week, the FBI announced that it was launching an investigation into the death and findings.
