Hunting for Answers is a production of the Black Effect Podcast Network and iHeartRadio. Welcome to Hunting for Answers, a true crime podcast. I'm your host Hunter, and Today's case takes us way back to September tenth, nineteen seventy one, and centers around a twenty two year old civil rights activist and trailblazer. According to some accounts, she accepted a ride from a stranger, while other sources suggest she was abducted while waiting for a bus on her way to work.
She also happened to be the first black.
Homecoming queen at a predominantly white university in the South, and her death remains unsolved after more than fifty years. This is the story of Lynn u Zan. Lynn Cecilia Uzan was born on October eleventh, nineteen forty, in Galveston County, Texas, to Ida A. Boudreau Uzanne and Wilbur Thurkield Uzanne, Senior. By nineteen sixty eight, Lynn had become one of the first black students admitted into the University of Houston or U eight. With a bright smile and fierce determination, Lynn
wasn't just another student, She was a revolutionary. While studying journalism. She co founded the African American Studies program at UH and helped establish the Shape Community Center in nineteen sixty nine. She was also a charter member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and even played.
In the university's marching band.
But Lynn's activism went well beyond campus activities. She had even been arrested a few times for demonstrating all of this during the civil rights era. November nineteen sixty eight, the University of Houston Astrodome, in a moment that shocked the nation, Lynn Yuzan was crowned the first African American Homecoming queen at a predominantly white university in the South. She beat five white candidates in a victory that sent
shockwaves through the segregated South. The shock that she was actually named it was fantastic, recalled her friend Jean Law, who was there that night. The Daily Cougar newspaper called her election a symbol representing uh's defiance of the wall of prejudice, but not everyone was celebrating. Lynn's crown wasn't just a tiara. It was a statement, a declaration that
change was coming to the AMA in South. She used her platform to fight for social justice, leading rap sessions and presenting demands to the university president that included things like an African American studies program, more black administrators and instructors, increased financial aid, and better wages for maintenance workers. There were other blacks who felt as I did, and who were facing the same problems I was. By organizing into a group, we were able to make our problems known.
Lynn once told The Houston Chronicle her activism made her beloved by some and despised by others. September tenth, nineteen seventy one, Houston, Texas, it was a rainy day in Lynn, now twenty two years old and a recent graduate of Uhe was walking to her job when the rain started. According to some accounts, a stranger offered her a ride. In that split second decision to get out of the rain, Lind's fate was sealed.
However, other reports say she was abducted.
Nonetheless, whatever happened would leave a family devastated, a community outraged, and questions that remain unanswered till this day. On that morning, a Houston police car was struck by a nineteen seventy one Chevrolet saidan driven by a twenty six year old black man named Leo Jackson Junior. When officers approached the vehicle, they found Lynn Uzanne in the back seat, stabbed six times in fighting for her life. She was rushed to
the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Jackson claimed that the hysterical Linn had attacked him and stabbed herself, and that he was rushing her to the hospital when he crashed into the police car. However, the evidence told a different story. The medical examiner's report was damning. Lynn had been stabbed multiple times in the back, wounds that could not have possibly been self inflicted. In Leo Jackson Junior
wasn't just a good samaritan trying to help. He had a lengthy criminal record, with fourteen prior arrests for sexual and other forms of assault and armed robbery. The evidence became overwhelming. The case seemed open and shut, But in nineteen seventy two, after a trial that shocked the community, a jury acquitted ly A Jackson Junior of murder. How does a man with all of those arrests get acquitted of murdering a civil rights leader when the evidence clearly
showed she was stabbed in the back. Lynn's friends and family were devastated. Her close friend Jeanne had said, it was a shock. It still is a shock when the word came back. We were just in total disbelief, tragic, very sad. Many in the community believe that racism played a role in the verdict. Here was a young black woman who had dared to break barriers, to challenge the status quo, and to wear a crown that some felt she didn't deserve. After the acquittal, no one else was
ever charged in connection with Lynn Muzanne's death. The case remains officially unsolved, a cold case that has haunted Houston for more than five decades. Lynn's death certificate simply states she was stabbed in the back. Her niece, Andrea Uzanne, says the family has never gotten closure. Her death left an indelible mark, Andrea said, but then so did her life.
In nineteen seventy six, five years after her death, the University of Houston dedicated Lynn Uzanne Park, a four point six acre park in the center of campus where diverse groups gather, just as Lynn would have wanted. In twenty eighteen, nearly fifty years after she helped create it, the university finally approved a bachelor's degree in African American studies, the program that l fought to establish. Lynn Uzanne was so
much more than just a homecoming queen. She was a journalist, activist, advocate, organizer, and a trailblazer who helped change the face of higher education in the South. She wanted to bring social justice not just to the UH campus, but to the surrounding communities and beyond. Today, more than fifty years later, Lynn Yuzan's murder remains unsolved. The Houston Police Department lists her case as legally open, though no active investigation is currently
under way. However, in twenty thirteen, Leo Jackson, the man who was acquitit of her murder, had passed away, taking away any secrets he might have had along with him. Lynn's case leaves a list of haunting questions. Was she targeted because of her activism her crown, did her pioneering spirit make her enemies?
And will her family ever truly get the justice they deserve.
One thing is for sure, lynn Uzanne wrote down walls and open doors that can never be closed again. Her death remains unsolved, but her impact is undeniable. My thoughts and prayers are with the family of lynn Uzanne anyone with information about her case to contact the Houston Police Department. Their contact information can be found in the description box below. As we close out this episode, don't forget to collect the follow button to stay updated on this case and
others like it. Be sure to subscribe to Hunting for Answers on YouTube and follow us on Instagram and TikTok for more true crime updates. Thank you so much for joining us.
On another episode. Until next time.
Hunting for Answers is a production of the Black Effect Podcast Network. For more podcasts from the Black Effect Podcast Network, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.