Autopsy confirms former state NAACP president Rev. Anthony Spearman died of suicide

An autopsy report released on Tuesday shows that Rev. T. Anthony Spearman, former president of the North Carolina NAACP, died of a self-inflicted gun shot to the head.

The Guilford County Sheriff's Office investigated Spearman's death after he was found dead at his home in Greensboro in July 2022.

Spearman, who was in his early 70s, was a champion of social justice and long an advocate for the sick or imprisoned.

He famously camped outside the governor’s residence in Raleigh for more than a week in an effort to obtain pardons for two men whose murder charges were dismissed after courts overturned their convictions.

"I have lost a true brother in the struggle,” Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, another former NC NAACP president, said at the time of Spearman's death. “North Carolina and the nation have lost a champion of justice and a beloved public servant. We have all lost a freedom fighter, a man deeply committed to justice, and a man of true faith."

Spearman, who won numerous awards for his advocacy work, was elected president of the state organization in 2017 after serving six years as a vice president. He previously served on the Hickory School Board and was president of the N.C. Council of Churches.

After his stint as NC NAACP president ended in 2021, Spearman sued a number of state and national NAACP officials, accusing them of defamation and conspiracy to remove him from the presidency. He alleged he was ousted because of his “growing national profile" and that, to get rid of him, state NAACP officials falsely accused him of misappropriating association funds.

Before his death, the state NAACP treasurer suggested that criminal charges against Spearman would be appropriate.