Horrific details have emerged regading the murder of openly gay Clarksdale, Mississippi mayoral candidate Marco McMillian.

According to the coroner, 33 year-old McMillian was beaten, dragged, and set ablaze by his murderer.

22 year-old Lawrence Reed has been arrested and charged with the murder after he was found in the wreckage of McMillian’s crashed SUV.

From The Clarion Ledger:

Other than to say it’s not investigating the murder as a hate crime, the department has released no other information about the incident or the arrest. This has prompted mass speculation about why it occurred.

Among the numerous theories is that Reed allegedly killed McMillian after the openly gay candidate made sexual advances toward him, or that the two men possibly had been in a romantic relationship.

The family said it wanted to share information about McMillian’s death to dispel such speculation.

What is known is that Reed was found Tuesday morning after crashing McMillian’s SUV into another vehicle on Highway 49 near the Coahoma-Tallahatchie county line. McMillian was not in the vehicle at the time and authorities began searching for him.

Read more at clarionledger.com

 

A terribly tragic situation.

Once again, our thoughts and prayers are with Marco McMillian’s loved ones.