Emergency crews responding to a 911 call reporting an attempted suicide found 38-year-old Demetrius Fleming already dead at a home on Roanoke Avenue on Friday night. Roanoke Rapids Police Chief Lawrence Wiggins says his department is treating the case as an open and equivocal death investigation, and he is asking the public not to jump to conclusions while the medical examiner's findings remain pending.
According to WRAL, Fleming was found connected to a ligature, though police have not said what type of ligature was involved. The 911 caller was a person close to Fleming but was not at the scene when the call was made, the outlet reported. Wiggins extended condolences to Fleming's family and said police will not share certain details about his personal life at this point in the investigation.
Police Say No Assumptions Have Been Made
Wiggins told WRAL the investigation is in its infancy and that police are not working from any strict assumption about what happened. Per the outlet, he said, “The evidence will provide the conclusion,” and added that his department is committed to finding the facts and reporting them. Wiggins said everything is on the table, and that officers will weigh information about Fleming in light of whatever evidence emerges.
The chief also cautioned against the public making or perpetuating assumptions as facts, according to the same report. WRAL notes the death has drawn significant attention in the community, and that social media has spread speculation about what happened even as the case remains unresolved.
State Law Requires Medical Examiner Review
Under North Carolina General Statutes § 130A-383, any death resulting from violence, suicide, or occurring under unnatural, unusual, or suspicious circumstances must be reported to and investigated by the county medical examiner and the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. A related statute, § 130A-389, authorizes the Chief Medical Examiner or a designated forensic pathologist to perform an autopsy and conduct toxicological testing whenever necessary to establish the official cause and manner of death — the standard legal process now underway in Fleming's case.
Halifax County Crime Stoppers is asking anyone with information about the case to call (252) 583-4444 or submit a tip through the P3 Tips app, per RRSpin. The nonprofit organization offers cash rewards up to $5,000 for tips that help solve homicides, according to the outlet's report.
Community Urges Patience Amid Speculation
Following the announcement of Fleming's death, local community leaders and advocates posted on Facebook asking residents to refrain from spreading unverified speculation while the medical examiner's autopsy remains pending. Those posts urged respect for the grieving family while the community awaits official facts, illustrating local efforts to head off rumor and panic before an official cause of death is determined.
Fleming's death comes less than a week after a separate hanging death in North Carolina. On August 15, a man was found hanging from a tree in downtown Raleigh near Whiskey Kitchen during the CaribMask festival; investigators ruled that death a Raleigh hanging ruled a suicide after closing their inquiry with no finding of foul play.
Broader Pattern Fuels Public Distrust
That Raleigh case follows another North Carolina hanging death that drew scrutiny earlier this year. In May, 16-year-old Black Congolese immigrant Juliana Umba Nzita was found hanging from a tree on church grounds in Charlotte; police ruled it a suicide, but the ruling prompted public skepticism, an independent autopsy, and calls for external reviews of hanging death determinations statewide, as Hoodline previously reported.
Civil rights commentators note that public reports of Black individuals found hanging frequently invoke historical trauma surrounding lynchings, a dynamic that leads community organizations to routinely push for federal oversight or independent forensic reviews in equivocal cases, according to Davis Vanguard. That historical backdrop helps explain the intensity of the reaction to Fleming's death even before any official cause has been determined.
Roanoke Rapids, the largest municipality in Halifax County, had an estimated 2024 population of about 14,850 residents, roughly 50 percent White and 37 percent Black, with an 18.4 percent poverty rate, according to Data USA. The Roanoke Rapids Police Department operates out of J. Reuben Daniel City Hall under Chief Wiggins, who has publicly committed to an open and objective investigation as the community waits for answers.
