The Maryland State Medical Examiner ruled that a Black man found hanging from a tree died by suicide, just a day after it happened.
Witnesses spotted the man before 8 a.m. Sunday near an Upper Marlboro business. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that he “died of suicide by hanging, with no other signs of trauma to his body.”
The family asked officials not to publicly release his name.
Local law enforcement says they are continuing to review the case as community members press for full transparency surrounding the circumstances.
Prince George’s County police detectives are examining surveillance footage, witness statements, and cellphone data. While investigators found no initial evidence of foul play, police emphasized that the death investigation remains open pending complete forensic reviews.
“We know this investigation remains a concern for many in the community,” police said in a statement. “Even after today’s suicide ruling by the OCME, the PGPD is continuing to investigate, to include examining evidence and speaking to those who knew the decedent to get a full picture of the circumstances of this case.”
“At this time, there is no indication of any foul play, and investigators continue to believe this was a tragic suicide,” police added.
The manner in which the man died has hit home for many Black people across the country because of the painful history associated with the image of a Black person hanging from a tree. That history fueled questions and speculation online after photographs and reports from the scene began circulating.
The community’s reaction prompted county leaders to address residents directly. Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy called the death a “tragedy” and urged people not to allow speculation to overshadow the fact that someone had died.
“We know that the community needs and deserves the truth, and we want to provide as much information to residents as we possibly can, respecting the fact that an individual is dead and his family and friends are grieving,” Braveboy said, according to WTOP. “So, let’s not forget about the person who took their life.”
Braveboy also pushed back against people using the death to promote unverified theories online.
“Don’t ask for clickbait and use this tragedy to get followers or to get likes, because this is a tragedy,” she said. “A person is dead. He’s dead, and he took his own life.”
She said county officials and investigators would “tell the truth” and rejected what she described as “theory, innuendoes and folks who just want to spew, quite frankly, untruths.”
The circumstances nevertheless caused considerable distress among people who witnessed the scene or encountered images of it online. The man’s body remained visible from the nearby roadway while investigators waited for the medical examiner to arrive.
The emotional response was evident during a Monday gathering attended by county officials, community members and local leaders. Residents gathered in prayer and solidarity before walking from a nearby school to the area where police found the man. Several people embraced one another and cried at the site.
Prince George’s County Council Member Sydney Harrison urged residents to approach the situation with compassion.
“I think this is a moment in time, in a place and space, that we really need to exhibit some compassion and empathy,” Harrison said. “Pause for a few moments to really listen to one another, to understand what each other is feeling at this present moment.”
Maj. Paul Gambardella, commander of the Prince George’s County Police Department’s homicide unit, also stressed that the investigation would continue even after the medical examiner ruled the death a suicide.
“Our investigation doesn’t stop,” Gambardella said. “Whether it’s looking through our decedent’s cellphone, whether it’s following up with any camera footage that we may or may not have, whether it’s talking to anybody else in the neighborhood that we haven’t talked to, this continues even after the ruling.”
He reiterated that investigators had found nothing at the scene indicating foul play.
“If anything, it’s sad,” Gambardella said.
The Maryland case comes amid a time where a series of deaths involving Black people found hanging across the United States have been in the media spotlight.
As previously reported, authorities have found at least six Black people hanging in publicly reported cases across the country in 2026. While several of those deaths were classified as suicides, some families and community members questioned whether investigators had truly fully examined the circumstances before reaching those conclusions.
Among the cases examined was 21-year-old Kyle Bassinga, a Georgia State University student found hanging from a tree in Marietta, Georgia, in February. Investigators said surveillance footage captured him entering a wooded area alone, and they found no evidence that anyone else was involved. Officials ruled his death a suicide.
Another case involved 16-year-old Juliana Umba Nzita. Authorities found her hanging near a church in Charlotte, North Carolina, in May. Officials ruled her death a suicide within days. However, people raised questions about the investigation, including whether authorities conducted an autopsy and whether they examined all potential witnesses and evidence.
Authorities also found To’Nea Nicole Miller in Florida, Justice Kai James in Georgia, Jerard “Jay” Jackson in Michigan and Tasia Fortune in Mississippi in the same manner this year. The circumstances and investigative findings differed from case to case, with some deaths officially ruled suicides and others still awaiting final determinations at the time of publication.
