The murder, disappearance, and subsequent discovery of the body of Gabby Petito , and the discovery of the remains of her fiancée Brian Laundrie became the subject of unprecedented media attention. Each year, however, African Americans and other people of color go missing. Very little attention is given to their stories. The case of Jelani Day highlights this problematic reality. Day was a 25-year old Illinois State University graduate student in Speech Pathology. He was declared missing on August 24, 2021. Last seen in Bloomington, Illinois, His body was found floating in the Illinois River 10 days later..
According to a recently released report by the LaSalle County Coroner, Day’s cause of death was “drowning.” There was no evidence of pre-death injury meaning no evidence of assault, murder, or intoxication. ” Day’s body was severely decomposed after a prolonged period in the river. His car was found in the woods in Peru, Illinois, which is 70 miles from Bloomington, Illinois, the last location where he was seen alive. The police recovered his belongings from different spots near the car, each at a mile’s distance from the other.
The coroner’s findings were immediately challenged by Day’s relatives. Carmen Bolden Day, Jelani’s mother, labeled the coroner’s report an “insult” “Jelani was an avid swimmer, and an avid swimmer doesn’t drown himself.” .Bolden also pointed out her son did not suffer from depression or any other mental health issues. She suspects foul play in the death of her son.
To further buttress her suspicions, Day’s mother also pointed out discrepancies between the autopsy results produced by the independent autopsy and the official coroner’s report .. “There were contradicting facts from the first preliminary autopsy compared to the second independent autopsy, but this is not a case of organ harvesting, however, my son did not put himself in a river,” she said in a statement.
The security footage of Day’s final hours show him entering the Bloomington Cannabis dispensary, known as Beyond/Hello. The police believe the clothes he was wearing in the footage were later found in his abandoned car.
Day’s case only attracted media coverage after social justice advocates pointed out the outsized attention being given to cases involving white victims when compared to those involving Black victims. Widespread protests have occurred to bring attention to Day’s plight. People marched demanding “Justice for Day” from Illinois law enforcement authorities. .
Jelani’s family as well as noted civil rights advocate Jesse Jackson requested that the FBI take the lead in investigating the case. An online petition started by The Nu Epsilon chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity at Alabama A&M University is also circulating. Day is a graduate of Alabama A&M and a member of the fraternity. The petition urged active involvement of federal authorities in Day’s case. Referring to the Bloomington Police Department, the letter suggests “this agency has shown the inability to handle a case of this nature. The letter echoes the concerns of civil rights activists and Day’s mother.
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This post was previously published on historianspeaks.org.
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