The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said that it had not found signs of foul play on the black Georgia man found hanging from a tree Monday morning.
Police were called to the scene when witnesses spotted a body hanging from a tree in the backyard of a home in Greensboro. Police identified the man as 43-year-old Roosevelt Champion, III.
Investigators said Champion was “interviewed twice last week” about the murder of a 54-year-old white woman but had not been charged nor deemed a suspect.
According to WXIA-TV, investigators said they have not discovered any evidence to suggest Champion’s death is somehow related to the woman’s murder.
Champion’s friends and families have insisted the 43-year-old would “never take his own life.” The GBI investigation is still in its preliminary stages. Autopsy results are expected Tuesday.
Watch a full report on Roosevelt Champion’s hanging death below:
The GBI noted that Champions arms and legs had not been bound and that there seemed to be no other wounds on his body such as those made by guns or other weapons.
“There’s nothing to suggest any, any foul play at this time,” said GBI Agent Joe Wooten. “Mr. Champion’s feet were touching the ground, his knees were slightly buckled […] There’s nothing that showed any type of immediate struggle or anything of that nature.”
Some members of Champion’s family expressed outrage.
“I’m angry, I’m angry because I don’t have answers,” said Miranda Wright, one of Champion’s sisters. “He do a lot of things but he wouldn’t have harmed himself, I doubt it. Last night he was taking trash out, and he said, ‘I love y’all and I’ll see y’all tomorrow. He was a very kind guy, sweet. Give you the shirt off his back. Everybody’s struggled with something, but he was a good guy. He was a good guy, my brother was.”
The man who owned the house where Champion was found, Donnie Reid, was also distraught by the news, explaining that he had gone out early that morning to go to work and got a distressing call around noon informing him that Champion had been found in his yard.
“His mom was like a second mom to me,” Reid said. “He was a pretty quiet guy, hard worker. You know, he had some hard times. But I guess I never saw that one coming.”