Death of Robert Fuller, found hanging from a tree in Palmdale, is ruled a suicide

On June 10, Robert Fuller’s body was found hanging from a tree outside Palmdale City Hall. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigators have concluded that Robert Fuller, a Black man whose body was found hanging from a tree in Palmdale last month, died by suicide, saying a thorough investigation found no signs of foul play and showed the 24-year-old had previously exhibited suicidal behavior. Pointing to the region’s history of racism toward Black people; the backdrop of unrest prompted by George Floyd’s death; the hanging death a week earlier of another Black man, Malcolm Harsch, in nearby Victorville; and the setting where Fuller’s body was found — hanging in a public square outside Palmdale’s City Hall — they voiced a suspicion that Fuller had been lynched and demanded a more thorough investigation, monitored by outside agencies. On May 14, someone using an EBT card registered to Fuller purchased a red rope from a Dollar Tree — a rope consistent with the one found at the scene of Fuller’s death, Marks said. In the early morning hours of June 10, a homeless person walking through Poncitlán Square, near Palmdale’s City Hall, found Fuller’s body hanging from a tree, a coroner’s report said.