Uhuru Movement says it will investigate hanging death of Black St. Pete woman as a homicide

Nevela Williams Credit: Valerie Smith The International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement announced today that it is investigating a local death as a homicide. Syriah Henderson, a 29-year-old Black woman and mother of three, was found hanging from a tree behind a St. Petersburg Dollar Tree on July 1, 2026. The St. Petersburg Police Department and medical examiner said the death was a suicide, stating there were no injuries inconsistent with suicide or signs of a struggle.The Uhuru Movement—a socialist Black nationalist group that has been headquartered in St. Petersburg since 1972—said it is suspicious of the police department’s findings.  Henderson’s mother, Nevela Williams, said she wasn’t satisfied with the results of the investigation at a press conference at the Uhuru House in St. Petersburg this morning. Williams said she did some investigating of her own. “I even questioned the people that work at the churches across there,” she told the media. “They said th