Dennoriss Richardson, a Black man who earlier this year filed a lawsuit against the local police department in Alabama, was found dead last month — hanging from a rope in an abandoned house.
His family believes the 39-year-old man may have been lynched by the cops he was suing from the Sheffield Police Department in Colbert County.
After all, his wife, Leigh Ann Richardson, told local media that police had repeatedly arrested, beaten and harassed him over the years, which intensified after he filed his lawsuit in February, accusing six officers of violating his Fourth Amendment rights through excessive force as well as denying him medical services under the Americans with Disability Act.
“I need answers,” his wife, Leigh Ann Richardson, told the Alabama Media Group. “This was made to look like a suicide. It’s not a suicide.”
She said her husband had been harassed by Sheffield police officers after he filed his lawsuit against them on Feb. 25.
Richardson’s mother, Bonita Richardson, also said her son was under a lot of stress since filing the lawsuit because he feared retaliation from the officers who had already abused him.
“He really was in fear for his life,” she told Alabama Media Group. “I think it’s a homicide.”
Richardson’s attorney, Roderick Van Daniel, is also suspicious of his client’s death and is calling for a federal investigation.
But Colbert County Sheriff Eric Balentine, whose office investigated the death, said all evidence indicates Richardson took his own life.
“We spoke to family members that said the last time they had spoken to Mr. Richardson, he had been depressed, worried about his future as far as the charges he was looking at. He was just down and out. He was giving some of his property away. It appeared to be an apparent suicide,” Balentine told the outlet.
“The DA’s office ordered an autopsy. The body was sent to the Department of Forensic Science in Huntsville. The cause of death was suicide.”
The Hanging
Richardson’s body was found hanging by a rope from a beam in an abandoned house on Sept. 28 after the Colbert County Sheriff’s Office received a call about a suspicious vehicle, Balentine said.
“We’ve spoken with the mother at length,” the sheriff told AL.com. “She seemed to think that Mr. Richardson was depressed because his estranged wife had been giving him some problems. They had been separated. There were a lot of things going on in Mr. Richardson’s life.”
But Bonita Richardson denied telling the sheriff her son had been depressed.
“My son was joyful,” she said. “He didn’t have any mental issues. He would never kill himself. He would not hurt himself.”
The Lawsuit
Richardson was attending a hearing at the Sheffield Municipal Courthouse over drug charges on Nov. 30, 2022, when the judge told him to step outside the courtroom, according to the lawsuit, which describes Richardson as asthmatic and diabetic.
The lawsuit states that Richardson was attempting to use the restroom when Sheffield Police Lt. Max Dotson assaulted him by grabbing his arms as if to arrest him, even though Richardson had done nothing wrong.
It is not clear from the lawsuit as to why Dotson grabbed his arms, but Dotson was later fired and convicted on assault charges over another incident in 2022. The former cop was also arrested on DUI charges earlier this year.
But after Richardson was transported to jail that day, he ended up further attacked by Sheffield police officer Darien Fountain, who struck him in the throat with the palm of his hand and shoved his head against the wall before falsely charging him with assault, the lawsuit states.
From there, Dotson and Fountain strapped Richardson to a restraint chair for three hours, where they called him a “p_ssy and motherf_cker” and told him, “NOBODY CAN HELP YOU.”
Dotson later sprayed pepper spray into his cell, knowing he was asthmatic, and also stepped into the cell to punch him, the lawsuit states.
Sheffield Police Officer Brett Evans then tasered Richardson under the orders of Sheffield Police Chief Ricky Terry, and he was once again placed in the restraint chair for several hours.
Sheffield police officer Elbert Pope was named in the lawsuit for denying Richardson food and medical care.
The lawsuit mentions another incident from earlier this year on Jan. 9, where he was “viciously attacked” by Sheffield police officers Billy Hall and Sinaca Butcher when he attempted to use a phone in the jail to call 911 for medical help.
Richardson was out on bond prior to his death.
“As far as our investigation goes, we want to be transparent,” Sheriff Balentine said.
“We’ve even placed a call into the U.S. attorney general’s office to see if they could maybe take a look at it also. It’s just a request. Because there is some concern as far as the family goes. We don’t mind them coming in and taking a look at the case.”
