Autopsy: Death of ex-state NAACP president ruled a suicide

By BEN FINLEY
Associated Press

Autopsy results show that a former president of the North Carolina branch of the NAACP died by suicide. The autopsy report and other documents related to the death of the Rev. T. Anthony Spearman were released Tuesday. The 71-year-old was found dead last July inside his home in Greensboro. Spearman’s death had drawn widespread attention. And his work as an activist was praised by the likes of Bishop William J. Barber, who had preceded Spearman as the state’s NAACP president. But few details about Spearman’s death had been released until Tuesday, nearly seven months after his passing.