The family of Dennoriss Richardson, a disabled Black man from Alabama, says his body was found hanging at an abandoned house near Mississippi months after he filed a police brutality lawsuit against the Sheffield Police Department. His family suspects that the police may be involved in his death.
In February of this year, Richardson filed a lawsuit against the Sheffield Police. His wife, Leigh Ann Richardson, stated that the department’s officers had repeatedly arrested, beaten, and harassed her husband.
Dennoriss Richardson was harassed by police his whole life, wife says
On February 26, Richardson filed the suit against several Sheffield police officers, including former Lieutenant Max Dotson. According to media reports, Dotson was terminated from the department due to a separate incident after being found guilty of assaulting another Black man while off duty in December 2022.
Sheffield Police Chief Ricky Terry and other officers were named in the lawsuit for their alleged involvement in the abusive behavior inflicted upon Richardson while he was a detainee at Sheffield City Jail from November 30 to December 1, 2022.
Mrs. Richardson stated that she married Mr. Richardson in 2012. She mentioned that since her husband was 5 years old, the Sheffield police have been harassing him.
“They harassed him his whole life,” she told Al.com
‘RELEASE THE TAPES’
On Wednesday, civil rights attorney Roderick Van Daniel demanded that the Sheffield Police Department provide body camera footage related to an altercation between Richardson and several officers earlier this year. This filing was part of the lawsuit Richardson filed against the department for the alleged mistreatment he experienced despite him being disabled.
Lawsuit allege Sheffield Police Department beat Dennoriss Richardson
According to the lawsuit, officers with the Sheffield Police Department are accused of brutally beating Richardson, compromising his asthma by spraying him with mace, and denying him food while he was detained at the department’s jail.
The lawsuit also alleged that one of the officers yelled, “Nobody can help you!” at Richardson while he was restrained in a chair for three hours. Additionally, the lawsuit claimed that the officers subsequently charged Richardson with assault.
After Richardson filed the lawsuit, he was arrested again by the department for drugs, which threatened to drop his charges if he dropped the lawsuit.
“It was a bribe to make him drop the lawsuit and he never would,” Mrs. Richardson said.
Dennoriss Richardson found dead, hanging, at an abandoned house near Alabama/Mississippi line
Richardson was eventually released on probation following his drug arrest but chose to turn himself in after learning that he would have to serve his sentence across the country, separating him from his five children. Mrs. Richardson stated that after he left home, she stopped hearing from him.
On September 26, Richardson was reported missing. Just two days later, he was found dead, hanging from a rope on a porch near Mississippi, where his family stated he had no reason to be. The family mentioned that they have not received Richardson’s death certificate, but the Colbert County District Attorney’s office has ruled his death a suicide.
Mrs. Richardson states that she does not believe her husband died by suicide.
“I need answers,” she said. “This was made to look like a suicide. It’s not a suicide.”
Colbert County Sheriff Eric Balentine told Al.com that they spoke with members of Richardson’s family, who stated, “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.”
“We received a call of a suspicious vehicle at a residence on Highway 72, on the west side of Colbert County,” Balentine said. “When our deputies go down to investigate the suspicious vehicle, they located Mr. Richardson. He was hanging from a beam on the carport.”
Readin this story brung tears to my eyes and sent chills thru my body. This is my exact story to the T.. because I was a victim of corruption and stood up for myself, filed suit and spoke out I am being harassed and targeted to silence me. I have been beaten, falsely arrested, kids taken, and because I have proof of all the crimes and try to expose it. Sadly I feel this will be my outcome because I refuse to shut up or allow anybody to get away with crimes that was committed against me! They try to act like I have mental health issues and that I’m delusional to cover up the crimes but I have all the proof down to recordings of them incriminating themselves and violating my rights. The cops are the biggest gang around and something needs to be done!
My prayers to the family! My God My God. This doesn’t sound right! Don’t let uo off the gas!!
Smells like BULL💩 to me!! Why every time a BLACK man is found hanging it’s a PHUCKING suicide! I know she said he has asthma. I wonder what other disability he had. I’m aware it’s none of my business. I just wonder if that’s why those a*s holes felt it was ok for them to feel like it’s was ok to continually harass him! RIP YOU LNG MAN!! Condolences to his family!