These days, nothing ceases to amaze anyone anymore! It seems as though there is new information on old cases emerging left and right these days. One hundred years ago this month, a black teenager named George Tompkins was lynched in Indianapolis, his body found hanging in the woods. At the time, his death was ruled a suicide. Now, the community is coming together to honor Tompkins’ memory by seeking justice for how he died. “We are just here trying to bring justice, to the extent that we can, but also to start a dialogue,” said Karen Christensen of the Indiana Remembrance Coalition.

Inside Floral Park Cemetery on the city’s west side, dozens of people crowded around the newest headstone in the ground Saturday morning. One by one, they draped pink carnations on top of the stone set in place to honor a man killed in Indianapolis a century ago. “In 1922, George Tompkins did not receive justice, neither in life nor in death,” said Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett.

Tompkins was found hanging in the woods at Cold Spring and Lafayette roads on March 16, 1922, with his hands tied behind his back. According to Dr. Rebecca Shrum, associate professor of history and director of public history programs at IUPUI, the county coroner said at the time, “the man could not have hanged himself.” But when Tompkins’ death certificate was finalized, the cause of death listed read suicide, not homicide.

We will bring justice to something that was unconscionable to me; that 100 years ago something like this could have happened,” said Marion County Deputy Chief Coroner Alfie McGinty. “We are proud to be a part of this history some 100 years later and we will remember George Tompkins”.

It was and still is a tragedy what happened to George Tompkins but it is great to see that some justice is still being served for his loved ones.