NEED TO KNOW
- Jayvon Givan was found dead outside a vacant business in Albuquerque, N.M., in an apparent suicide on Sept. 17, 2024
- The 29-year-old man’s family said they didn’t find out about his death until more than a year later
- Now, Albuquerque police have launched an independent review into the investigation of the man’s death
A man was found dead in an apparent suicide in New Mexico last year, and his family said they didn’t find out about his death until this month.
Jayvon Givan, 29, was found hanging in front of a vacant business in Albuquerque on Sept. 17, 2024, according to an incident report from the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) obtained by KOAT 7, The Kansas City Star and KOB 4. He had a bracelet on his wrist from a nearby hospital that revealed he had been admitted the day before, and a notebook belonging to him was found at the scene.
There were no signs of foul play, per the incident report. An autopsy was conducted, and the cause of death was determined to be suicide.
More than one year later, on Oct. 1, Givan’s twin sister, Jaivryon Walker, called the APD to report that the 29-year-old had been missing for around one year, per the outlets — and that is when Walker learned that Givan was dead.
According to a missing person report filed with the APD, per the outlets, Walker said she was calling from Kansas City and that her brother was last known to have been in Albuquerque. She told police that Givan had left Kansas City around 14 months ago to go backpacking through the United States. She also told police that when she last spoke to Givan about a year ago, he informed her that he was “in trouble” but was okay, according to the report.
“She had officers report him as missing, which they did. Those officers turned it over to the dispatcher to turn it over to the missing persons unit on [Oct. 3], and our detective with the missing persons unit looked up his name, found that there was a report from last year from that death that was ruled a suicide,” Gilbert Gallegos, APD’s director of communications, told KOAT 7.
“The missing person’s detective contacted this man’s sister, who had called us, reported to her that he unfortunately had died by suicide, and explained the circumstances as he understood it. That’s the last contact we had with the family member. It’s obvious that she didn’t know ahead of time,” Gallegos added.
Walker told the Albuquerque Journal, in a story published on Oct. 6, that police attempted to notify Givan’s next of kin when he was found dead, but they were unable to make contact with their mother. Therefore, she did not find out about her twin brother’s death until she filed the missing person report on Oct. 1.
Walker also told the Albuquerque Journal that she does not believe Givan died by suicide.
“We had never felt he was suicidal,” she said. “I believe the case needs to be opened up and investigated as a homicide.”
Walker alleged to the outlet that the APD failed to notify her family or properly investigate Givan’s death because he was an unhoused Black man. “I think they just ruled it out because they had already seen him in the homeless shelter,” she claimed.
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On Oct. 7, APD Chief Harold Medina announced that he was “arranging for an independent review” to look into the initial investigation into Givan’s 2024 death.
“Our field officers rely on medical investigators to determine the cause and manner of death, which informs the department’s decision to pursue a criminal investigation,” he said in a statement, per KOAT 7. “While this death appears to be a death by suicide, the fact that it involved a hanging is enough reason for further scrutiny.”
PEOPLE reached out to Chief Medina and the APD, but did not receive an immediate response.
Walker told the Albuquerque Journal that since learning of her twin brother’s death, she has been reflecting on memories of him.
“He was an electronic genius,” she said of Givan. “This guy can [take] any electronic apart and put it back together. He was family-oriented, and he was just a good person to be around.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health challenges, emotional distress, substance use problems, or just needs to talk, call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org 24/7.
