Originally published in the Tampa Tribune (Florida) January 7, 2005
Copyright 2005 The Tribune Co. Publishes The Tampa Tribune
FBI ASKED TO EXAMINE SUICIDE AS HATE CRIME
By MICHAEL DUNN
mdunn@tampatrib.com
TEMPLE TERRACE -- Some say a 24-year-old black man who committed suicide in September may have been murdered.
The Hillsborough County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
has asked the FBI to look into the death of Damien Johnson as a
possible hate crime. Johnson was found hanging from a tree in the woods
at Tampa Telecom Park the morning of Sept. 22.
Temple
Terrace police investigated the death and ruled it a suicide, but
Johnson's relatives and others say they wonder if that's what really
happened.
Members of Johnson's family,
along with Temple Terrace resident Eddie Adams Jr., met with police in
November to express their concerns about the death. Adams, who ran
unsuccessfully for Temple Terrace City Council in November, said he
found the suicide suspicious.
Adams said he didn't believe a black man would hang himself because of the cultural association with racial
lynchings. Adams also questioned why Johnson would walk five miles from
his boardinghouse near the University of South Florida to commit
suicide.
Adams has called a meeting for Saturday night in Temple Terrace to
discuss the issue with family members, NAACP representatives, church
leaders and others.
Temple
Terrace police Deputy Chief Patricia Powers said all the evidence at
the scene pointed to suicide. A police investigation found that Johnson
climbed onto a tree limb about 15 feet from the ground, tied a bedsheet
to the branch and to his neck, then dropped toward the ground.
The
Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's Office and police investigators
said they found no signs of a struggle and no bruises or injuries to
Johnson's body. A police report noted that neither Johnson's hands nor
feet were bound.
Powers said that as far
as Temple Terrace police are concerned, the case is closed. However,
because the family raised concerns, her department asked the Florida
Department of Law Enforcement to give the case another look.
Reporter Lenny Savino contributed to this report. Reporter Michael Dunn can be reached at (813) 977-2854, Ext. 28.
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