"Man charged in slaying of mayoral candidate" by Holbrook Mohr | Associated Press, March 01, 2013
JACKSON, Miss. — A 22-year-old man was charged with murder Thursday in the death of a mayoral candidate in the Mississippi Delta.
Lawrence Reed of Shelby was charged in the death of Marco McMillian, the Coahoma County Sheriff’s Department said. McMillian, 34, was a candidate for mayor of Clarksdale and was well known in the community of about 17,800 and beyond.
An investigation began Tuesday when a man crashed McMillian’s SUV into another car on US Highway 49 near the Coahoma and Tallahatchie county lines. The candidate was not in the car.
McMillian’s body was found near the Mississippi River levee on Wednesday morning, county coroner Scotty Meredith has said. The body was sent for an autopsy, and the cause of death hasn’t been made public.
The sheriff’s department has not released a possible motive for the crime.
Campaign spokesman Jarod Keith has said McMillian’s campaign was noteworthy because he may have been the first openly gay man to be a viable candidate for public office in Mississippi.
McMillian, who was black, had forged ties while serving for four years as international executive director of the historically black Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. Photos on McMillian’s website and Facebook page show him with a younger Barack Obama, former president Bill Clinton, and US Representative John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat.
McMillian was chief executive of MWM & Associates, described on its website as a consulting firm for nonprofits.
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"Family says body of mayoral candidate was beaten, burned" Associated Press, March 05, 2013
JACKSON, Miss. — The body of a slain Mississippi mayoral candidate was beaten and burned, a family member said Monday.
Marco McMillian’s godfather, Carter Womack, said McMillian’s family received the information from the Coahoma County coroner. Coroner Scotty Meredith declined to comment Monday, and a spokesman for the Coahoma County sheriff had no immediate comment.
But a person with direct knowledge of the investigation confirmed that McMillian had some bruises and there were burns on at least one area of his body.
The person wasn’t authorized to publicly comment and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The cause of death has not been released. An autopsy was performed, but toxicology tests are pending, and authorities say it could take two weeks to get those results.
Womack said the coroner told family members that someone dragged McMillian’s body under a fence and left it near a Mississippi River levee last week.
McMillian, 34, was a candidate for mayor of Clarksdale in the Mississippi Delta.
‘‘We feel that this was not a random act of violence based on the condition of the body when it was found,’’ said a statement released by his campaign.
The slaying received significant attention, in part, because McMillian’s campaign said he was the first openly gay, viable candidate for public office in Mississippi.
Sheriff’s deputies last week charged 22-year-old Lawrence Reed with murder in the case. Reed was being held without bond Monday pending extradition to Mississippi.
An investigation began Feb. 26 after McMillian’s SUV slammed head-on into another vehicle on US Highway 49 near the Coahoma and Tallahatchie county lines.
Reed was driving the car, but McMillian was not in it, authorities say. McMillian’s body was found the next day.
Reed was treated for injuries at the Regional Medical Center in Memphis. The hospital said he was released Saturday.
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