St. Pete mother still seeking answers after daughter's death
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Syriah Henderson's mother, Nevela Williams, left, with members of the Uhuru Movement at a news conference last week. Photo: Kathryn Varn/Axios
A local activist group is independently investigating the death of a St. Petersburg woman that police and medical examiners ruled a suicide.
The big picture: The death of Syriah Henderson, a 29-year-old Black mother who was found July 1 hanging from a tree behind a Dollar Tree, has sparked speculation on social media amid numerous other Black people's deaths involving hanging in the past year across the U.S.
- Those recent reports, and the South's history of racist lynchings, are among the reasons the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, a St. Pete-based arm of the African People's Socialist Party, announced last week, along with Henderson's mother, that they were investigating the case as a possible homicide.
- "Syriah Henderson was not found hanging from a tree in a vacuum," said Jamie Simpson, southern regional coordinator for the Uhuru Solidarity Movement.
Background: St. Petersburg police and the Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner's Office said Henderson's death was a suicide.
- There were no signs that Henderson "had struggled or had been in a physical altercation," a police detective wrote in the investigative report.
- Henderson also had a history of being taken into custody under the Baker Act, police said. The Florida law allows for the involuntary commitment of people believed to be a danger to themselves or others.
- She was also experiencing homelessness, police said.
What they're saying: The NAACP St. Petersburg branch shared the police findings in a July 6 Facebook post and, in a comment, warned against speculating "beyond the facts."
The latest: Three months later, the investigation still doesn't sit right with Henderson's mother, Nevela Williams.
- She questioned whether police sought camera footage from nearby businesses, churches or homes that captured what happened.
- Detectives reviewed footage from a surveillance camera at the Dollar Tree and found that it was pointed downward, police spokesperson Yolanda Fernandez told Axios.
- Uhuru Movement members also want to track down a witness who first spotted Henderson, whom police couldn't find, said Chimurenga Waller, who is leading the Uhuru investigation.
Zoom in: Williams said her daughter was happy and had turned her life around. She was homeless "by choice," Williams said.
- Henderson focused on being a good mother to her daughter, Williams said. As a young mother, she struggled with her first two kids, "but with [her daughter], she was wonderful."
- "I need more," Williams said of the details surrounding her daughter's death, "to settle my heart as a mom."
What's next: The Uhuru Movement will hold a memorial for Henderson at 7pm Thursday at the Uhuru House, 1245 28th Ave. S.
- A candlelight vigil is also planned for 8pm Saturday at the Dollar Tree where Henderson was found, 3426 Central Ave.
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