The deepest roots of the podcast, in its earliest iteration, lie in the inspiration I draw from all those nights listening to Melvin Lindsey (1955-1992) host “The Quiet Storm” on WHUR 96.3 FM, Howard University’s radio station, an institution whose cultural value is deeply embedded in the hearts and minds of the Gen X folks I grew up with in Prince George’s County, Maryland. From day one, show one in 2010, music was embedded into the DNA of the formula we were creating and building upon for two hours each Saturday morning live on BlogTalkRadio. We opened and closed each show with a song and, every now and again, depending upon the guest, I would produce special musical elements to add color and context to the topics on the table.
Because of his frequency on the program over the years, and because of my affection for him as a brother in the spirit, Byron Jamal, as a friend of the show, was one of the few guests for which I would produce tailor-made musical mixes intertwined with literary readings of famous authors, recorded in my own voice. For what would be our last conversation, recorded on February 10, 2018, this sequence, containing soundbites from a string of Byron’s appearances over the years, was produced for the show overture on that day. Take a listen.
Parts 1-33 | Unmasking the Life and Death of Byron Jamal.
On October 8, Byron Jamal Leach was arrested on allegations that he was an adult offender of a minor child. He died by an apparent unaliving, while in police custody, only hours after being arrested. We will never know how he would have answered these charges in court. Some say that his actions at the end said it all; they believe he couldn’t face all that he had done and what his life and reputation would have looked like in the aftermath of this public story. Only Byron knows what he took with him as he left this realm. All we really have with which to build our understanding of who he was and who he wanted to be, is what he created from his soul, that he left behind: his voice, his writings, his teachings and the memories he left in the hearts and minds of those who have and always will love him.
Those who truly knew him, or thought we somewhat knew him, or knew parts of him, are left to reconcile his words with his works. This is a process of fitting together whatever pieces you have. Many of us are left with more questions than answers. Here’s what I think I do know, so far, from where I sit.
On October 1, 2025, Case No. 25CR428360-890, the State of North Carolina vs. Byron Jamal Leach, was filed in Union District Court, charging five counts of felony sexual act by a government/private institution employee, a violation of state statute 14-27.31(B). The complainant was a minor male patient at Anderson Health Services in Marshville, where Byron Jamal Leach was employed. One count is alleged to have occurred on July 29, two counts are alleged on July 30, and two additional counts of felony sexual act by a government/private institution employee are alleged to have occurred on September 15, 2025, according to the arrest warrant, which was obtained from the Mecklenburg County Clerk of Superior Court Office Online Portal.
The Marshville Police Department (MPD) had been investigating Byron Jamal Leach for some time prior to his death, on allegations of child sexual assault. The town of Marshville is in Union County, North Carolina, part of the Charlotte metropolitan area. Anderson Health Services is a youth mental health facility for adolescent males, ages 10-17. On a warrant obtained by the MPD, U.S. Marshals executed Byron’s arrest on October 8, at a residence in Charlotte, one week after the case was filed with the Court, who authorized the use of electronic warrants. According to the Union County Sheriff’s Office’s news release, Byron tried to evade arrest by jumping off a balcony, injuring his arm in the fall. Law enforcement reports transporting Byron to a local hospital, where he was treated and released back into policy custody. He was booked at Union County jail just before 7 p.m. on October 8.
According to the Conditions of Release and Release Order, which was obtained from the Mecklenburg County Clerk of Superior Court Office Online Portal, on October 8, the day Byron Jamal Leach was arrested, a secured bond of $500,000 was ordered and, upon conditions being met, Byron was to be released, after submitting to fingerprinting and providing his DNA sample.
Just after midnight, at 12:33 a.m. on October 9, hours after being arrested, booked and placed in an isolated cell, police report that, as officers walked their rounds, Byron Jamal Leach was found unresponsive in his single cell. Lifesaving efforts began, according to Union County law enforcement. EMS soon arrived to take over from detention medical staff. Byron’s pulse was restored before being transported from Union County jail to a local hospital. In the late morning of October 9, North Carolina’s Union County Sheriff’s Office posts that Byron “succumbed to injuries sustained during the s***ide attempt earlier this morning.”
Byron Jamal Leach was 41. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation currently has the case. It could take weeks or months for any additional information to be made public.
A woman in the comments section of the Union County Sheriff’s Office’s October 15 news release posted to Facebook identified herself as the mother of the 16-year-old boy who was allegedly assaulted. More on that to come.
Byron Jamal was the published author of multiple books, and marketed himself as a former pastor, relationship coach, motivational speaker and, in his later years, as The Love Guru. His government name was Byron Jamal Leach. For 14 of his 41 years, I knew him as Byron Jamal. While we had a number of offline conversations and even more text messaging between us, our paths never crossed in person. Only on the podcast. I knew him as a brother. In the Spirit. A Gen X’er from the 60s, I had 17 years on Byron, who was born in 1983, a Millennial, so he was the younger brother from another generation. We got to know one another, mostly, through his teaching appearances on our BlogTalkRadio podcast over the years, dating back to 2011. (Rest in Peace BlogTalkRadio. And thank you for oh-so-many good Saturday morning memories.) Our podcast premiered on Saturday, February 6, 2010. Byron first appeared on show #83: Iron Sharpens Iron,” on September 3, 2011.
In the wake of his death, I have been going back through the podcast archives, more deeply this time, listening again to the voice, the stories and the teachings of a young man that I had many recorded conversations with, on a wide range of spiritual questions, over my time knowing him. Our last conversation, in 2018, was, perhaps, our most in-depth and revealing, as Byron powerfully and poignantly took the deep-dive into his childhood and the depression, isolation, loneliness that was so much a part of it, and the ongoing struggle to reconcile his spirituality and sexuality, that were his constant companions, growing up as an adopted only child in a household of two parents and an extended family of grandparents who loved, nurtured and accepted him as one of their own.
What do I hear now that I did not hear then? What I realize much more deeply now, in his absence, is that Byron trusted me with his story. Someone he had never met in person. There would be yearly text messages from Byron thereafter. On my birthday. It surprised me that he remembered the day. And it made me smile. Not another phone call. In the seven years leading up to his death, I witnessed the evolution of Byron Jamal from a social media distance. I reached out a few years back to request an interview on his 2020 book, The 7 Steps to Ultimate Self-Love: How to Love Yourself the Way You Deserve. He agreed. I never circled back to schedule it. Prior to our last interview and in preparation for it, Byron sent me a copy of his 2018 book, The Call Path: Volume 1: A Journey Into Love. We’ll get to that shortly.
In our last dialogue, I proposed creating with him a body of work, loosely based upon “We Wear the Mask,” a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906). It is from this very exchange that we take our title for this ongoing work of “Unmasking the Life and Death of Byron Jamal.” As the story and this journey continues, let us build even further context.
Byron Jamal appeared on our 83rd show, back in 2011. The very next week, we did show #84 called “No More Masks,” with Brother Andrew, who reached out to share his powerful story of shedding a major mask in front of his church congregation, out in Long Beach, California. Four years later, in 2015, I would see this same scenario play out again while shooting a few episodes of Iyanla, Fix My Life for OWN, on locations in Kentucky and Virginia. We used Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem, “We Wear the Mask,” as part of our healing plan for the gay pastors featured in those shows.
“We wear the mask that grins and lies…” wrote poet Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906). “It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes…”
So, before we move forward with further unmasking the life and death of Brother Byron, let us briefly revisit Brother Andrew’s “No More Masks,” the story that we aired the week after Byron Jamal, back in 2011. In a podcast that aired on September 10, 2011, Brother Andrew talks openly and honestly about his struggles with obesity, loneliness, church hurt and thoughts of unaliving himself. Different characters. Same story. Silent agreements. Depression. Denial. Deception. In his lifetime, Byron Jamal wrestled with all of these. Brother Andrew, in his message, “No More Masks,” reveals that some of these same spirits visited him, growing up in Long Beach. Two men, both living in the shadows of their true selves.
“Why should the world be over-wise, in counting all our tears and sighs? Nay, let them only see us, while we wear the mask…” wrote poet Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906).
Like Byron Jamal and so many others, Brother Andrew had to find his way within the Christian Church that he so loved. Having left a place of worship where he did not feel at home, Brother Andrew soon found refuge and solace in a new sanctuary. As a seasoned speaker with an extensive history of church leadership, he was quickly offered an opportunity to preach. In his quiet time, Brother Andrew heard that still small voice within say, “Tell your story.” And one Sunday morning, he faced the entire church and did just that.
In his lifetime, Byron Jamal talked about the mask handed to him by the Christian Church, that he was to wear while he was churching, in and out of the building. In the wake of his death, we are left to unmask what we can of his life, his words and his teachings.
