Roanoke Rapids police are investigating the hanging death of a 38-year-old man who was discovered this morning in the 1900 block of Roanoke Avenue.

Chief Lawrence Wiggins said officers found Demetrius Eugene Fleming connected to a ligature after receiving an attempted suicide call shortly after 6:45 a.m. The 911 call came from someone close to the victim, he said.

He declined to state what kind of ligature the man was connected to.

Halifax County EMS and the Roanoke Rapids Fire Department responded to provide medical aid, but Fleming was determined to be deceased.

The chief said it is unclear how long Fleming had been deceased.

Asked whether there were any other signs of injury to Fleming’s body, Wiggins said during a press conference, “We would only be able to get that answer from an autopsy.”

He said it is not currently known when the autopsy will be performed. “I imagine by Monday we will have a definitive answer.”

Wiggins said the case remains an open equivocal death investigation. “The Roanoke Rapids Police Department is committed to finding the facts and reporting them. The investigation is in its infancy and it is important to neither make nor perpetuate assumptions as facts. The evidence will provide the conclusion. Anything else will create more confusion.”

The chief extended his condolences to Fleming’s friends and family. “We are aware of, and acknowledge, the implications surrounding the death of a Black male due to a hanging,” he said. “Again, our commitment is to the evidence and the facts. To reiterate, we are pursuing all leads and this remains an open investigation.”

Council members Warren Keith Bell and Sandra Bryant, who attended the press conference, declined to comment, deferring questions to the police department.

Wiggins said investigators would examine footage from nearby business cameras to gather leads.

Asked about a recent hanging death in Raleigh, which police there have ruled a suicide, and whether it would draw greater attention throughout the area, the police chief said, “I think it would be irresponsible to say no. It’s the elephant in the room, right? Now we have this particular incident. We can’t say they’re connected and we don’t know the motivations behind why our incident occurred. It’s open. We’re pursuing every lead and we can’t definitively say whether this was self-inflicted or whether this was malicious.”

Asked about the kind of man Fleming was, Wiggins said, “Our investigators have been in contact with members of the family. There are details that at this point we’re not going to share about his personal life. I think it’s important for us to get as much evidence and then weigh what we know about Mr. Fleming in light of the evidence we have rather than sit here and say things which may or may not sway people’s perception of what occurred.”

The chief said that anything related to his personality or psychological state “would tend to be part of the victimology and we would treat that as investigative material.”

Wiggins said that whenever someone dies in such a manner, “it brings not only unwanted and unwarranted external attention to a private matter,” but also public speculation: “In the information age and social media age, we know people are going to make assumptions regardless of what the facts are.”

He said he believes “it’s important that we do this investigation as thoroughly as possible and that we do it as expeditiously as possible so that way we can get the truths and the facts out there and bring his family some closure.”

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Halifax County Crimestoppers at 252-583-4444.