 ST. LOUIS (AP) — Authorities are investigating the death of a Ferguson protester's son as a suicide, although a message on social media posted by his mother has sparked assertions that it was a lynching. Melissa McKinnies, who was active in the St. Louis suburb after the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in 2014, posted the Facebook message, saying "They lynched my baby." The message, which Facebook later removed, began trending on social media sites such as Twitter and Reddit, causing people online and in the community to press officials for more answers about the death of 24-year-old Danye Jones. McKinnies found his body on October 17 hanging from a tree in the backyard of their home in Spanish Lake, in St. Louis County, reports CBS St. Louis affiliate KMOV-TV. Danye Jones in undated family photo KMOV-TV 
 
 A police report lists "suicide" as the nature of the investigation. The posting showed pictures of McKinnies' son hanging from what appeared to be bed sheets. The medical examiner's determination of the cause of death could take several weeks. Administrator Suzanne McCune said the office doesn't issue preliminary findings. In addition, a rally in support of Jones was scheduled for Thursday outside the St. Louis County Justice Center in Clayton, Missouri. But the Rev. Darryl Gray, a leading St. Louis activist who has met with McKinnies several times since her son's death, confirmed McKinnies' Facebook posting. Gray said it was Facebook, not McKinnies, who took it down. McKinnies was among thousands who took to the streets in Ferguson, Missouri, after Brown's death on Aug. 9, 2014. Brown, a black and unarmed 18-year-old, was fatally shot by white officer Darren Wilson during a street confrontation. Wilson was not charged and later resigned, but the shooting led to months of protests and helped give rise to the Black Lives Matter movement. Gray said he was unaware of any evidence indicating foul play. But he said McKinnies and other activists from Ferguson are often harassed and threatened via text and social media. "She believes (Jones' death) was meant as a message to her," Gray said. Police continue to investigate the deaths of two prominent Ferguson protesters, both of whom were found killed inside of torched vehicles - DeAndre Joshua in November 2014 and Darren Seals in September 2016.
– "They lynched my baby." So wrote Melissa McKinnies, an organizer of the Ferguson protests of 2014, upon the death of her 24-year-old son, Danye Jones. Police in St. Louis County, however, say it looks like a suicide. McKinnies' suspicions have since spread across social media, and the story appears only to be gaining steam—especially because it comes in the wake of previous high-profile Ferguson deaths. The details: The death: Jones was found hanging from a tree Oct. 17 near his mother's house in Spanish Lake, Mo., reports CBS News. Police say they found a chair near the body and are investigating it as a suicide. In fact, a spokesman says the family reported it as such in the initial 911 call. Determining an official cause of death could take weeks. Mother's view: McKinnies posted images of her son's body on Facebook that were later removed by the site, reports the AP. She says that he had bruises on his face, and relatives say he didn't know how to make the knots used, and that the sheet didn't appear to come from the house. "He was not suicidal at all," she tells KMOV. She thinks he was killed because of her activism after the death of Michael Brown at the hands of police in 2014.