The Mcmillian Campaign / Reuters

Marco McMillian, 34, a candidate for mayor of the Mississippi Delta city of Clarksdale, is shown in this undated campaign photograph released to Reuters on February 27, 2013. McMillan, considered to be among Mississippi's first viable political candidates and who was openly gay, was found dead on Wednesday morning, officials said, the victim of an apparent homicide.

JACKSON, Mississippi - A gay, black mayoral candidate killed last week in Mississippi was beaten, dragged and set on fire before his body was dumped near a river, according to his family.

In a statement issued late on Sunday, the family of Marco McMillian said a coroner who performed an autopsy on his body told them about the gruesome manner of death.

"We feel this was not a random act of violence based on the condition of the body when it was found," said the McMillian family. "Marco, nor anyone, should have their lives end in this manner."

But the Coahoma County Sheriff's Department, which is leading the investigation, has released few details about the killing or a possible motive. Law enforcement officials say the killing is not being treated as a hate crime.

Coahoma County Coroner Scotty Meredith declined to comment on the family's statement that McMillian was beaten and burned.

The body of McMillian, a 33-year-old candidate for mayor of Clarksdale, Mississippi, was found on Wednesday. A day later, law enforcement officials arrested a 22-year-old man, Lawrence Reed, who is also black, and charged him with murder in connection with the case.

McMillian was one of the first viable openly gay candidates to run for office in Mississippi, according to the Victory Fund, a national organization that supports homosexual candidates.

Autopsy results are not expected to be released until toxicology tests are complete, which could take two or three weeks, Meredith said.

McMillian had been missing since February 25 when his sport-utility vehicle was involved in a head-on collision in a rural part of Coahoma County in the Mississippi Delta. McMillian was not in the vehicle at the time of the accident.

McMillian recently moved from Memphis back to his hometown of Clarksdale to run for mayor as a Democrat. He had faced state Representative Chuck Espy, a Democrat, and former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Luckett, an attorney, along with two other candidates.

McMillian's campaign focused on reducing crime and unemployment in Clarksdale, a city of roughly 18,000 people, said campaign spokesman Jarod Keith.

A once-booming agricultural community, the city has steadily bled residents and jobs over the years and now faces high levels of violence and unemployment.

Another Democratic candidate for mayor, Doris Haynes Miller, said she recently was robbed at gunpoint in the town.

Handout / Reuters

Marco McMillian, 34, a candidate for mayor of the Mississippi Delta city of Clarksdale, is shown in an undated campaign photograph.

Marco McMillian, a black and gay man from Mississippi, announced in January that he would run for mayor of his hometown of Clarksdale. Six weeks later, the 34-year-old was found dead by police on the Mississippi River levee outside the town of 20,000 people.

Residents are still reeling, McMillian’s childhood friend and Clarksdale resident Tony Jackson told the Clarion Ledger, a local newspaper. “I heard what had happened, and I didn’t even know who they was talking about,” said Jackson, a truck driver and former city police officer. “When it came to me that it was him, that was a shock.”

Everybody knew about McMillian’s sexual preference growing up, but “it didn’t matter,” Jackson told the paper.

Another childhood friend said that McMillian’s death had been “dramatic” for people in Clarksdale, a crime-plagued town best known as a birthplace of the blues.

“It’s just terrifying to everybody that knew him personally because you ask, ‘Why?’” Sissiretta Melton, 33, told The Associated Press. “He knew this town needed him. Kids here have nothing. We don’t even have a decent movie theater. He wanted to bring those things here.”

Investigators charged Lawrence Reed, 22, with McMillian’s murder on Thursday. Reed was hospitalized on Tuesday after he got into a crash while driving McMillian’s car, police said. McMillian was not in the vehicle at the time, and police started their search for the missing man. His body was found Wednesday.

That the promising young man – a college graduate who had worked at Alabama A&M University and Jackson State University – was the latest victim of crime in the city saddened but did not surprise residents of Clarksdale.

“You know things are bad when someone like that is killed and you’re not even surprised,” Jackson said. “There’s too much of this going on here. It seems like someone’s dying every two weeks.”

McMillian cited “increased crime” in a press release announcing his candidacy, saying that he would work to make the Police Department more transparent and partner with community organizations to provide services to at-risk individuals.

“There’s a lot of people upset about it,” resident Dennis Thomas, 33, told the AP. “Why would somebody want to do something like that to somebody of that caliber? He was a highly respected person in town. He’s been in the community helping out a lot.”

Authorities have said that they do not think racial or sexual bias played a role in McMillian’s death, and that it is not being investigated as a hate crime. If elected, he would have been among the state’s most prominent openly gay public officials.

“Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Marco McMillian, one of the 1st viable openly #LGBT candidates in Mississippi,” the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, a gay rights political action committee, tweeted on Wednesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related: 

• Murder charge filed in death of Mississippi mayoral candidate
• Mississippi mayoral candidate found dead; person taken into custody

marcomcmillian.com

Marco Millian, 34, was widely noted as one of the first openly gay candidates for public office in Mississippi.

Authorities charged a Mississippi man with murder Thursday, a day after the body of a candidate for mayor of Clarksdale, Miss., was found.

Authorities had been searching for Marco McMillian, 34, since Tuesday morning, when his sport-utility vehicle was involved in a head-on collision in Coahoma County.

Coahoma County, Miss., Sheriff's Office

Lawrence Reed, 22, of Shelby, Miss., was charged Thursday, Feb. 28, with murder.

McMillian, however, wasn't in the car. His body was found Wednesday near a Mississippi River levee between the rural towns of Sherard and Lena, said Coahoma County Coroner Scotty Meredith.

The driver of the car, identified as Lawrence Reed, 22, of nearby Shelby, was airlifted to a hospital in Memphis, Tenn., where he was listed in good condition.

In a one-sentence statement Thursday, the Coahoma County Sheriff's Office said it had charged Reed with murder. It gave no further details, but the most likely next step would be for Mississippi officials to seek Reed's extradition from Tennessee once he is released from the hospital.

McMillian — who was chief executive of MWM & Associates, a consultant to nonprofit organizations — was widely noted as one of the first openly gay candidates for public office in Mississippi.

His campaign spokesman, Jarod Keith, told the Clarion-Ledger newspaper of Jackson that McMillian's sexuality was never an issue in the campaign.

In a statement Wednesday, McMillian's campaign said: "Words cannot describe our grief at the loss of our dear friend, Marco McMillian. The shocking news of Marco's death is beyond difficult for us to process."

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marcomcmillian.com

Marco Millian, 34, was widely noted as one of the first openly gay candidates for public office in Mississippi.

The body of a candidate for mayor of Clarksdale, Miss., was found about 15 miles west of town Wednesday, and a person was in custody, sheriff's officials said.

Authorities had been searching for Marco McMillian, 34, since Tuesday morning, when his sport-utility vehicle was involved in a head-on collision in Coahoma County, the county sheriff's office said in a statement.

But McMillian wasn't in the vehicle, authorities said. The driver of his vehicle, identified as Lawrence Reed, 22, of Clarksdale, was airlifted to a hospital in Memphis, Tenn., about 60 miles away, NBC station WMC of Memphis reported.

There was no immediate report on the cause of death, according tothe Coahoma County coroner's office.

The sheriff's department declined to say whether Reed was the "person of interest" who was taken into custody or whether the action was taken in connection with McMillian's death or as a separate part of the accident investigation. The department said no further information would be immediately provided "due to the fact this is an ongoing investigation."

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McMillian — who was chief executive of MWM & Associates, a consultant to nonprofit organizations — was widely noted as one of the first openly gay candidates for public office in Mississippi.

His campaign spokesman, Jarod Keith, told the Clarion-Ledger newspaper of Jackson, Miss., that McMillian's sexuality was never an issue in the campaign.

The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, a national advocate for gay political candidates, tweeted Wednesday:

"Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Marco McMillian, one of the 1st viable openly #LGBT candidates in Mississippi."

In a statement Wednesday, McMillian's campaign said: "Words cannot describe our grief at the loss of our dear friend, Marco McMillian. The shocking news of Marco's death is beyond difficult for us to process."

Two of McMillian's opponents — who, like McMillian, are Democrats — said they, too, were shocked and saddened by the development.

"He was a very articulate, clean-cut young man," Bill Luckett, a former candidate for governor, told the Clarion-Ledger. "It's a bizarre and tragic situation." 

Another candidate in the race, state Rep. Chuck Espy, whose father is the current mayor, told the newspaper that he had known McMillian for many years and considered a dynamic and energetic candidate with numerous ideas about how to change Clarksdale.

Clarksdale, population 20,000, is the county seat.

Espy offered his thoughts and prayers to McMillian's family.

Follow M. Alex Johnson on Twitter and Facebook.