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Alfred Wright, a Black 28-year-old husband and father, was found dead last fall just outside a small town in Texas. Although his bodied was mutilated and evidence of trauma, authorities ruled “accidental overdose” as the cause of his death. A prominent elected official in Texas announced last week that the Department of Justice is now looking into the matter.

Wright, a father of three boys, worked as a physical therapist. After calling his wife Lauren, a white woman, after his truck broke down en route to seeing a patient, things began to unravel for the Wright family. According to Mrs. Wright, she called her parents to assist her husband who arrived at the store to find their son-in-law was gone. Wright’s wife says in an editorial piece that when she called her husband, all she could hear was heavy breathing when he answered.

Wright grew up in Jasper, the town where the infamous racially-charged murder of James Byrd took place. The family seems to allege his marriage to a white woman could have been motive for someone to kill the man.

Wright was found by his father and volunteers on November 13, with his throat slit, a missing ear and two missing front teeth. Police called off their search just after four days after Wright was initially reported missing, with he being found 18 days later. The state of Wright’s body raised cause of suspicion by the family, who believe that if Wright had been in the woods for 18 days his body would have been decomposed further.

After a coroner gave overdose as a cause of death, the Wright family hired a person to perform a second autopsy. Although the results of the blood work have yet to be returned, the investigator clearly puts the cause of death as a result of severe neck trauma and the slit throat.

Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee said last Monday in a press statement that Department of Justice will investigate the Alfred Wright case in a thorough and independent investigation. There was no timetable offered for the federal investigation, however.

The family maintains that Wright, a former athlete, was never seen using drugs of any sort and was practiced a clean lifestyle.

Savion Wright, Alfred Wright’s mother, started a GoFundMe account for he son’s wife, Lauren, and their children.

Photo: Wright Family