A Q&A with Cheryl L. Neely

Author photo: Justin Milhouse. Cover design: Louis Roe

When Black women and girls are targeted and murdered their cases are often categorized by police officers as “N.H.I.” — “No Humans Involved.” Dehumanized and invisible to the public eye, they are rarely seen as victims. In the United States, Black women are killed at a higher rate than any other group of women, but their victimhood is not covered by the media and their cases do not receive an adequate level of urgency.

Utilizing intensive historical research of cases in cities such as Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles, Cheryl L. Neely calls attention to serial cases of Black female murder victims and a lack of police action in No Human Involved: The Serial Murder of Black Women and Girls and the Deadly Cost of Police Indifference. Beacon Press senior publicity Bev Rivero caught up with Neely to chat about her book.

Bev Rivero: You open your book with a deeply personal story. How did you approach writing about this loss and how it led to your research and academic work?

Cheryl L. Neely: When I wrote my first book, You’re Dead—So What?: Media, Police, and the Invisibility of Black Women as Victims of Homicide, I shared the story of the murder of my schoolmate and friend, Michelle Kimberly Jackson in 1984 in the book’s prologue, focusing on the lack of media coverage and police response it garnered. Her case was solved a few years after the book was released and almost forty years after she was killed. I wanted to open No Human Involved with the first chapter being devoted to her story, the resolution of the case, and how police neglect led to other victims by Michelle’s killer, Kennith Dupree, who confessed to at least seven other homicides. I noticed while doing research on my first book that some of the women (like Michelle) were murdered by men who killed more than once. This was the catalyst for me to research the possible connection between lackluster homicide investigations of murdered Black women and girls by police and emboldened serial killers who target these victims, believing they don’t matter to law enforcement.

BR: The Murder Accountability Project (MAP) is fascinating. Can you describe it in brief and how you came to interview Thomas Hargrove and incorporate his work into No Human Involved?

CLN: MAP is an organization founded by Thomas Hargrove, a journalist who devised a mathematical algorithm to identify clusters of unsolved murder cases that would most likely be serial killings. What makes his project so vital to my research is that, oftentimes, the patterns of serial homicide that go uninvestigated or even classified as serial homicides by police involve victims that are ignored or disregarded by law enforcement. This is how I came across MAP, as I was researching cases of possible serial murders of Black women in Chicago and Cleveland, Ohio. Thomas Hargrove had identified a series of killings of Black women who died in a similar fashion—dumped in similar locations—and had yet to be solved by police. I reached out to him, and he agreed to be interviewed for my book. The information Hargrove provided was indispensable and confirmed my underlying thesis that police’s failing to seriously investigate and solve murders of victims creates a single offender who targets victims with impunity, without fear of ever being apprehended.

BR: A topic you explore is mainstream media’s language choices when describing the deaths of these women and girls, such as “two bodies found in trash bags.” How do you think these choices affected the perception and attention to these cases?

CLN: Language used by media to describe the deaths of victims reinforces a narrative about whether that person is someone society should care about. Media has the power of agenda setting—determining how a problem is viewed and how society should respond to it. And when it comes to homicides, media has a role in how police respond by increasing pressure on police to solve the case. In the deaths of Black women and girls who are often viewed through a lens of indifference, racism, and misogynoir, framing their murders as “bodies found in trash bags” is dehumanizing and disrespectful to the victims as well as to their traumatized and devastated families. They are not just bodies. They are people. Human beings. I would rather the title of the article be “The bodies of two young women found in trash bags.” Show them as people first!

BR: Writing about the Taco Bell murders and Henry Wallace’s connection to the victims, you note that while it is “unusual for serial killers to murder individuals with whom they have a personal relationship, again, Black women are more likely to be killed by male acquaintances than by strangers compared to their white counterparts.” You reveal how getting law enforcement to treat these cases as serial murders affecting the community is an ongoing struggle, no matter the geographic region. Do you see this changing with time?

CLN: I don’t necessarily see this issue as changing or improving with time since decades can pass with attitudes remaining the same and little change taking place. So, it’s not about time as it is about a shift in the cultural paradigm of policing. As long as Black women and girls’ lives don’t matter, their deaths won’t either. It’s a matter of police choosing to see these victims as human beings and, as they often do with white women and girls, as damsels in distress worthy of protection and rescue from male violence.

BR: In the conclusion, you comment on the role of true crime media and podcasts in reopening cases. These cases are often not focused on women of color. Do you have any thoughts or advice for those who might want to work on a podcast project focused on the women you write about?

CLN: The only thoughts I have about podcasts focused on Black women and girls as neglected victims of violence is that more podcasts emerge with these victims at the center. There are so many stories of serial killings with Black victims across the country, with communities and families desperate for public attention, so finding cases to focus on will not be a challenge. And as I discussed in the conclusion, podcasts have been successful in renewing attention on cold case murders and getting them solved.

BR: Finally, what are some other projects, books, or writers you’d like your readers to seek out after reading your book?

CLN: The issue of the invisibility of victims of violence based on race and gender is even more pronounced in Indigenous communities across North America, specifically in the US and Canada. I also encourage people to read about these cases. Unbroken: My Fight for Survival, Hope, and Justice for Indigenous Women and Girls by Angela Sterritt and Just Another Indian: A Serial Killer and Canada’s Indifference by Warren Goulding are books I strongly recommend. I also recommend Andrea J. Ritchie’s book, Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color, also published by Beacon Press. Ritchie’s book is a powerful, yet emotionally-taxing examination of police violence against Black women and women of color as well as transwomen. It also illuminates the paradox that the very institution required to protect victims also perpetuates violence against them.

About the Authors 

Cheryl L. Neely is a sociology professor at Oakland Community College in Royal Oak, Michigan, where she teaches courses in Sociology and Criminology. She is the author of You’re Dead—So What?: Media, Police, and the Invisibility of Black Women as Victims of Homicide, which won the Gold Medal Midwest Book Award in 2016. 

Bev Rivero is senior publicist at Beacon Press. Before joining Beacon in 2021, Bev was the communications and marketing manager at the National Book Foundation, where she worked on the National Book Awards, promoted the Foundation’s public and educational programs, and led all social media and marketing campaigns. Prior to NBF, she was in publicity at the New Press for six years, where she worked with authors committed to social justice, including Paul Butler, Michelle Alexander, and many more. She has extensive experience promoting nonfiction and tailoring outreach campaigns that resonate with activists and change-makers. Bev is a NYC-based graduate of Johns Hopkins University, ardent supporter of indie presses, and a graphic designer.