TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Oluwatoyin Salau, a 19-year-old protester who begged for justice in the wake of Black lives lost, has died.
Her family confirmed the death Monday morning.
Salau was found dead Saturday night after she went missing more than a week ago, on June 6, family members told the Tallahassee Democrat of the USA TODAY Network.
The last time Danaya Hemphill saw her friend was the day before she went missing.
In the hours before Salau went missing, she tweeted she had just been sexually assaulted.
“I had a feeling that we were not going to find Toyin alive,” said Hemphill, 22.
At each demonstration, Salau had been reciting the names of Black people killed, such as Tony McDade of Tallahassee and George Floyd of Minneapolis.
“I don’t want their names gone in vain,” Salau said during one protest in front of the Tallahassee Police Department last month.
Hemphill didn’t think her friend’s name would join that list.
“Toyin was very passionate,” said Hemphill. “She was very vocal she was very loving, very spiritual, very caring.
“She was like a light in a dark room. That was Toyin.”
Officials have not said whether Salau was one of two homicide victims discovered Saturday night off a road in Tallahassee. Police have not released the identity of either of the victims.
Follow reporter Nada Hassanein on Twitter @nhassanein_.
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