After a Missouri coroner ruled the death of a Black teen a suicide, a jury refuted its findings and ruled that 19-year-old Derontae Martin was the victim of violence.

Martin’s family demanded a coroner’s inquest be held and for a six-person jury to decide whether Martin’s death was accidental, suicide, natural causes or by violence, The Daily Beast reported.

The teen was at an 18-year-old girl’s birthday party on April 25  near Fredericktown when his body was found in the attic of James Wade, a man whose Facebook page was riddled with racist posts and memes. Inside of Wade’s home was also multiple Confederate flags.

Listening to the @truecrimegarage episode about the death of Derontae Martin. This one hits too close to him! A 19 year old black man, with an incredible future ahead of him, was found dead from a gun shot wound during a party at the home of a known racist pic.twitter.com/3ESiZMqChk

— elizabeth. (@_elizabeth7) July 27, 2021

One of the posts shared by Wade showed a Black man hanging by a chain with the caption “My great great great grandfather’s tractor.”

Another post of Wade’s showed a black dog with the caption, “I had a black dog once. I named him Foodstamps.”

Wade defended his Facebook activity, saying he isn’t “a racist” but admitted to using racial slurs.

According to witness statements, Wade and two other people at the party killed Martin. Another witness affirmed that Wade admitted to killing Martin. 

Wade, who testified, however, denied any wrongdoing.

The jury deliberated for almost two hours before ruling the cause of death was violence. The jury reviewed evidence and listened to nearly 20 witnesses’ testimonies before making their decision. 

Among one of the people to testify was Dr. Russell Deidiker who performed Martin’s autopsy. He said that the teen died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the left temple and discovered a soot ring which indicated the gun was fired in close proximity to his head. 

But an autopsy conducted at the request of the family contradicted Deidiker’s findings. The second autopsy revealed that the gun had been fired “two or three feet, or more away.”

Adamant about his conclusion, Deidiker said the other autopsy occurred after the body had been cleaned during the embalming process which Martin’s mother said she never gave permission for, The Daily Beast reported. 

According to St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the next steps in the case are unclear and the prosecutor in the case refused to make a statement. Madison County Sheriff’s Department and Missouri Highway Patrol will now have to reopen the investigation.

Martin’s family rejoiced at the news but said they still have “a long way to go, so we’ll just keep on praying and keep on trusting in the Lord.”

Martin, who was described as being 6’3″ 250 pounds, had played football in high school and was loved among his peers and family, KSDK reported.