Black teenager found shot dead at Missouri home of white man who made racist social media posts did NOT kill himself, jury rules as it overturns police's suicide verdict
- Six-person jury ruled that Derontae Martin's death on April 25 was not a suicide
- Ruling comes after two hours of testimony and second autopsy, which revealed Martin, 19, was shot at from a distance and not up close
- Family had fought police narrative that Martin shot himself for months
- Madison County Sheriff's Department and the Missouri Highway Patrol will have to reopen the case and investigate who was behind the killing
- Martin, a black man, was shot during a prom party at the house of James Wade, a white man with a history of racist and homophobic social media postings
A black teenager found shot dead at the home of a white man who made racist online posts did not kill himself, a jury has ruled as it overturned a previous verdict.
A six-person jury scrutinized the April 25 shooting of Derontae Martin, 19, during a coroner's inquest on Friday, in Madison County, Missouri.
While an initial autopsy said Martin died from a gunshot wound fired from close range to his head, a second autopsy, commissioned by Martin's family, revealed that the gun was fired from farther away.
After two hours of testimony and two hours of deliberations, the jury ruled that Martin's death was not a suicide.
Jurors found that 19-year-old Derontae Martin (pictured) did not take his own life inside the attic of a rural Missouri home during a prom party in April
19-year-old Derontae Martin was described by family as a playful and outgoing 'big kid.' His family did not believe that he killed himself and ordered a second autopsy
Martin (pictured right) was a former star defensive tackle who earned a scholarship to a small out-of-state college. The second autopsy commissioned by his family revealed he had received a shot to the head from a further distance than previously believed
Derontae Martin died in the home of James Wade, pictured above. Wade has repeatedly put up racists and homophobic posts on social media
They did not determine who was responsible for his death or whether it was accidental or deliberate, and made no further comments.
The decision means Madison County Sheriff's Department and the Missouri Highway Patrol must go back and re-investigate.
'We don't have the answers to who did it, we don't have the answers to why they did it,' Kimberly Robinson, Derontae Martin's grandmother, told KSDK, an NBC affiliate station. 'But one thing is for sure and two things are for certain, God ain't through yet.'
'I am so glad and happy that they saw through all their lies and they saw the truth, that my baby did not kill himself,' said Erica Lotts, Martin's mother.
Madison County Prosecutor M. Dwight Robinson that the inquest was called due to the uncertainty of Martin's death.
Russell Deidiker, who performed the first autopsy, said the findings of the second autopsy did not change his mind. He said he stood by his initial suicide ruling.
Three Missouri Highway Patrol troopers testified that they believed the death was a suicide.
Witnesses who were there at the party said Martin appeared to be on drugs and paranoid.
A toxicology screening found significant levels of methamphetamine in his blood, with the teenager's family insisting that he was not a drug user.
No updates have been given on whether the case has since been reopened.
Friends, family and local racial injustice activist gathered in Fredericktown on May 14 to remember Martin and call for justice in his case during a protest march
Derontae Martin's mother Ericka Lotts (pictured) says she does not believe her son would have committed suicide and is seeking answers into his death
Derontae Martin's grandmother Kimberly Lotts-Robinson shared on Facebook that she believed her grandson was murdered and that local authorities were trying the 'cover up his murder as a suicide'
Martin was found shot to death during a prom party inside the rural Missouri home of James Wade, a white man with a history of bigoted social media postings.
They appear to show openly racist and homophobic memes that include jokes about slavery and swastikas.
That area of Missouri was also home to Frank Ancona, a Missouri Ku Klux Klan leader shot to death by his wife in 2017.
Wade often posted racist memes on social media. His background added the suspicion that Martin's death was not a suicide
Wade also posts defensive statements about being white and not being a racist
Many of Wade's postings contained gags made at the expense of black people's skin color, but he has denied being a racist
Wade put up this post on Facebook three days after Martin's death as doubts came in that Martin had committed suicide in his home
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Described by family as a playful and outgoing 'big kid,' Martin was a former star defensive tackle who earned a scholarship to a small out-of-state college.
After graduating high school in 2020, Martin worked at a Walmart store and a restaurant as he worked to bring up his entrance exam score so he could attend college.
Martin lived with his mother in a house in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson. It is unclear why he was at the party at Wade's home on the evening of his death.
Madison County Sheriff's Office initially ruled his death a suicide by gunshot wound to the head, but Martin's family says the outgoing 19-year-old was not suicidal and find the circumstances surrounding his death 'questionable.'
In May, about 100 people gathered in Fredericktown during a protest march demanding Justice for Derontae Martin, who died on April 25
Reverend Darryl Gray, (pictured) a St. Louis activist leader says he won't rest until the mysteries of Martin's death are solved
Rev. Darryl Gray said that counter-protesters tossed two nooses at protesters and yelled racial slurs during a protest seeking justice for 19-year-old Martin
In May, about 100 people, including Martin's mother, friends, family and activists gathered in Fredericktown to remember the 19-year-old and call for justice in his case during a protest march.
Rev. Darryl Gray, a St. Louis activist leader, told the Associated Press that counter-protesters tossed two nooses at protesters and yelled racial slurs.
Gray said that despite the slurs and the threats, activists won't rest until the mysteries of Martin's death are solved.
'Why did he end up in this particular house?' he asked KMOV. 'If he ended up in the attic and that's the story, how did he end up in the attic? If the story is that he was on drugs, how did he get the drugs, who gave him the drugs, who witnessed this?'
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