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UW students to hold vigil, call for FBI investigation into Muslim teen's death

Ben Keita

SEATTLE — Student groups will hold a vigil in memory of an 18-year-old student who was found hanging from a tree in a wooded area near his Lake Stevens home.

They are also calling for the FBI to open a full investigation into the death of the Muslim teen, Ben Keita.

There were no other injuries on the body of Keita, so the Snohomish County medical examiner concluded he took his own life.  But after his family pressed, the medical examiner changed the cause of death to undetermined.

The ME's report gives two reasons for the change, a K-9 search of the same area weeks earlier failed to find his body. Plus, the rope he was hanged with was tied an unusual 50 feet high in the tree.

After Keita’s death in January, a coalition led by the Washington Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations asked the FBI to investigate.

The FBI said it would review the circumstances of Keita’s death, but said a review does not necessarily result in the opening of an investigation.

UW’s Black Student Union and Somali Student Association, along with other student leaders, are holding the event.

The vigil will be held from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the University of Washington’s Red Square on its Seattle campus.