By Staff
ANSWERING QUESTIONS Ishmael Muhammad, left, an attorney for the family of the late Nick Naylor, answers questions at the Lauderdale County Courthouse. Standing with Muhammad are Naylor's brother-in-law, Willie Lee, and cousin, Jerri Naylor. Photo by Carisa McCain/The Meridian Star
By William F. West / community editor
Feb. 21, 2003
Officials ruled it a suicide, the family's attorney called it a lynching and the district attorney said Thursday he will let a grand jury decide.
Attorneys, investigators, law officers and family members of the late Nick Naylor met privately for nearly two hours at the Lauderdale County Courthouse discussing his autopsy.
But it took reporters waiting outside about 20 minutes to learn what officials told Naylor's family. Dana Naylor, the 23-year-old Porterville man's sister, abruptly left the third-floor meeting in tears.
The courthouse meeting came six weeks after Naylor's body was found Jan. 9 hanging from a tree about 11/2 miles from his house. Naylor had a dog chain around his neck.
District Attorney Bilbo Mitchell said the official autopsy, which was prepared late last week, ruled Naylor's death a suicide. Mitchell was one of several people who met with Naylor's family.
Mitchell said he will present the case to a grand jury in late March and let jurors draw conclusions based on the evidence and testimony of investigators and experts.
He also said he will invite any Naylor family members who want to testify.
The Naylor family's attorney, Ishmael Muhammad of Jackson, had a different take.
Muhammad said he will petition the U.S. Department of Justice for assistance and also contact private investigators. And he said he anticipates much activism will follow.
Till was a 14-year-old Chicago resident who was abducted in 1955 by two white men from his great-uncle's Delta cabin. The boy was murdered and dumped into the Tallahatchie River.
The two men were acquitted, but later confessed for pay to a magazine.
George Roberts, president of the Kemper County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, criticized authorities for being slow with Naylor's autopsy.
Kemper County Sheriff Sam Tisdale didn't remain for the entire meeting, but he said he believed the investigation was professionally conducted.