Mayoral candidate beaten, burned

• Tweet

The family of Marco McMillian, the openly gay mayoral candidate who was found murdered last week, is speaking out, hoping to draw attention to a possible hate crime.

Lawrence Reed, 22, was arrested Wednesday and charged with the murder of McMillian, considered the first viable openly gay candidate for public office in Mississippi, was killed Tuesday.

A statement from the McMillian's family indicates they believe the killing was motivated by homophobia.

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

The statement adds that McMillian had expressed concern for his safety.

McMillian went missing Tuesday morning after a car accident along highway 49 on the Coahoma-Tallahachie county line. Reed was driving the other car, and reportedly told police the candidate's body would be found behind a Mississippi River levee.

Investigators found McMillian's body Wednesday morning, and ruled his death a homicide.

Reports from the investigation indicated McMillian's body had some bruises and burns, and the family's statement, which describes extreme abuse to the body, points to a gruesome death.

According to the Clarion Ledger, however, the Coahoma County Sheriff's Department is so far not exploring the option to classify the homicide as a hate crime.

Should prosecutors decide to pursue hate crime charges, they would need to appeal to a federal statute to prove McMillian's sexual orientation was the motivation for the murder.

While federal law includes "bias against race, religion, disability, ethnic origin or sexual orientation," as grounds for defining hate, Mississippi law limits such crimes to "perceived race, color, religion, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin or gender."

McMillian was 33, and running for mayor in Clarksdale, a town of 20,000 about 80 miles southwest of Memphis.

The family's full statement, below: