Was a Gay Mayoral Candidate’s Mississippi Murder a Romantic Tryst Gone Awry?
Ever since 22-year-old Lawrence Reed, pictured at left, was found drivingand subsequently crashing33-year-old Marco McMillian's SUV on a highway in Tennessee last week, news outlets have been trying to piece together exactly how the two men knew each other. McMillian, an openly gay candidate for mayor in Clarksdale, Mississippi, was found dead near the Mississippi River after Reed pointed police to his body, prompting many to immediately presume McMillian's death was a hate crime (a black gay man being murdered by bigots in Mississippi wouldn't be much of a stretch). Yet as more details emerge, McMillian's killing seems to be less about a targeted hate attack and more about a relationship that soured.
An article from the Jackson-based Clarion-Ledger reports that while people close to both Reed and McMillian agree the men met and became friendly at a bar in Clarksdale, the stories differ from there. Some people believe the two men were just friends, while others claim they were romantically involved.
http://gawker.com/5988614/was-a-gay-mayoral-candidates-mississippi-murder-a-romantic-tryst-gone-awry