First fatality in Ferguson protests died metres from slain teenager

The body of a 20-year-old man has been discovered just metres from where Michael Brown was fatally shot in Ferguson, Missouri, following mass looting and protests in the US.

Police found the man "shot dead" inside a parked car overnight in what may be the first fatality in unrest which erupted when a grand jury ruled that a white police officer acted in self-defence when killing the unarmed teenager on August 9, the St Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Victim DeAndre Joshua's death has been ruled "suspicious" by police, with his grandmother Renita Towns telling the Daily Mail that "somebody killed him."

Fury continues to mount in Ferguson, which was at the centre of protests late on Monday and early on Tuesday, as Brown's family denounced the "broken" justice system that failed to bring murder charges against the Missouri state officer, Darren Wilson.

Video has emerged of his mother's angry reaction after the grand jury decision, as more troops were ordered to Ferguson to quell the thousands of black community and civil rights supporters who had taken to the streets.

"Everybody want me to be calm?" a sobbing Leslie McSpadden is shown yelling before demonstrators.

"Do you know how them bullets hit my son? Ain't nobody had to live through what I had to live through."

She then buried her face in the chest of the victim's step-father Louis Head, who screams: "Burn this b---- down!"

Minutes later the first rounds of tear gas would be fired into crowds.

Dozens of people were arrested and at least 12 buildings and two police cars set ablaze as rioters roamed the streets spreading mayhem.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon today ordered additional members of the National Guard to Ferguson in anticipation of more violence.

The demonstrations were expected to spread to 115 US cities by this morning.

Activists continue to speak out in support of the Brown family, who said they were "profoundly disappointed" amid accusations of police violence and racial injustice.

Civil rights firebrand Reverend Al Sharpton said Brown's death served as a timely reminder for the nationwide fight for greater police accountability.

"This is not a Ferguson problem ... This is a problem all over the country," he said.

"We may have lost one round but the fight is not over. They have broken our hearts, but not our backs."

Author: Chloe Ross, Approving editor: Simon Black
Source: St Louis Post-Dispatch, Daily Mail