Closing investigation, Morris Prosecutor discloses details of Amani Kildea hanging

Amani Kildea. Photo via Facebook
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Amani Kildea, the 20-year-old African American found hanging in a Morris County park in June, bought the rope earlier that day after researching suicide online.

Those were among details released Wednesday by the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, which concluded an investigation upholding initial findings that the Long Valley resident’s death was a suicide, with no evidence of foul play.

Black Lives Matter Morristown had demanded the state take over the investigation, accusing Prosecutor Fredric Knapp of a “rush to judgment” when he released the county medical examiner’s conclusion days after Kildea’s body was found in Lewis Morris Park in Morris Township on June 28, 2020.

Morris County Prosecutor Fredric Knapp
Morris County Prosecutor Fredric Knapp

The state Attorney General’s Office was consulted and concurs with the findings, Knapp said in a statement Wednesday.

While he seldom discloses details of suicides, Knapp said he was making an exception “to provide as much transparency as possible” because of the “great deal of inquiry” regarding the case.

Activists had questioned why Kildea–who had trained to become a military policeman, was bound for college, and dreamed of a career in the FBI or CIA–would hang himself.

Amani Kildea, kneeling, in posting by group that hunts for pedophiles online.

Hangings of Black men across the country had rekindled fears of lynchings, as racial tensions were heating up nationwide after the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis policeman on Memorial Day.

Kildea also had participated in a vigilante group that hunted for pedophiles, raising another layer of public suspicions about who might have had motives to harm him.

But no indications of a struggle were observed at the scene, nor did the medical examiner find any signs of trauma consistent with a struggle, Knapp said.

“The investigation did not reveal any evidence of criminality, nor is there any evidence of a connection between Mr. Kildea’s suicide and any other person or group,” Knapp said in his statement.

The prosecutor described the following scenario.

At 2:47 pm authorities received a 9-1-1 call reporting the body of a young black male hanging from a tree just off a hiking trail.

Black Lives Matter Morristown vigil for Amani Kildea, Lewis Morris Park, July 16, 2020. Photo by Tyler Barth

First responders found Kildea in a “near seated position at

the base of a tree, with a rope wrapped around his neck. This rope was connected to the tree approximately six-and-one-half feet from the ground, and Mr. Kildea’s body was partially suspended several inches off the ground.”

Kildea’s laptop and backpack were neatly placed near his body. His wallet and cell phone were in his pocket. His car was in a parking lot in the park.

Earlier that day, acting alone, Kildea had purchased the rope from a home improvement center in Morris County. That same day he also conducted “multiple internet searches related to suicide,” according to Knapp.

The prosecutor, who is retiring next month, said his Major Crimes Unit was assisted by the Morris County Park Police and the Morris County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, with additional help from the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office.

Amani Kildea graduated from basic training in the Army Reserves in February 2020, his family said. Photo via Facebook.

Amanual “Amani” Kildea played football at West Morris Central High School. Born in Ethiopia, he was adopted at age 5 by a white pastor and his family. The pastor characterized the death as suicide early on. Knapp said his office shared investigation results with the Kildeas.

“Out of respect and consideration for Mr. Kildea’s family, there will be no further comment on the details of this investigation,” Knapp stated.

“We send healing and prayers to Amani’s birth family in Ethiopia and to the Kildea family,” said T’Anna Kimbrough, founder of Black Lives Matter Morristown.

By pressuring the prosecutor’s office, she said, “we made this investigation a priority.”

“The Black community has a traumatic history of public hangings of Black men, women and children, and this summer around the time that Amani Kildea was found, we experienced nationwide news of several deaths by hanging of Black bodies. We needed to understand the circumstances surrounding his death and we demanded transparency,” Kimbrough said.

Activists shouted ‘Hey Knapp, you’re about to lose your job’ during Black Lives Matter march in Morristown, Aug. 22, 2020. Photo by Louise Witt

“We are thankful that the Morris County Prosecutor’s office was finally transparent with the conclusion of the investigation and a thorough investigation was completed,” she said.

Black Lives Matter will try to foster discussions on mental health resources available to people of color, Kimbrough said, while continuing to raise awareness about lives “taken too soon by suicide, homicide and police brutality.”

MORE ABOUT THE AMANI KILDEA CASE

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