SCOTT COUNTY, Miss. (AP) – On the night of Feb. 8, 2018, Willie Andrew Jones Jr. and Alexis Rankin argued in the car on the way to her parents’ home in Scott County, Mississippi.
The couple were going through a rough patch in their relationship, but they had a 3-month-old child together, and the 21-year-old Jones wanted to reconcile.
They continued fighting when they arrived at the 19-year-old Rankin’s home, where a group of her family members was staying. At some point, Jones walked out, leaving Rankin inside. Not long afterward, Rankin’s stepfather was calling 911 to say Jones was dead.
The Black man was found hanging from a tree in the yard of his white girlfriend’s home, 50 feet (15 meters) from the house and about 5 feet (1.5 meters) from the roadway.
The young man’s feet were touching the ground and his knees were bent. His body was slumped under the young pecan tree, a blue and white cloth belt wrapped around his neck. A yellow nylon cord attached to the buckle was tied around a branch of the tree.