Family pushes for reopening of 39-year-old Concord man who committed suicide

Timothy Lee was a twenty-three-year-old black, Native American, and gay fashion student attending the University of the Arts in San Francisco. One evening he missed the BART stop and ended up in Concord.

The next day, Timothy Lee’s body was found hanging from a tree in a vacant lot near a BART station. Concord police announced it was a suicide, but Timothy’s family did not believe it due to the unusual circumstances surrounding his death.

There were two other stabbings of Black men in Concord that night by people wearing KKK robes. Timothy’s sister’s name was misspelled in his suicide note. The NAACP attempt unsuccessful to get the FBI involved. And the case was closed.

Nearly 40 years later, Timothy’s cousin, Frank Sterling, leads an annual memorial walk to the Concord BART station to commemorate his death. This year also Frank circulating petitions urge Rob Bonta, California’s attorney general, to reopen the case.