Dennoriss Richardson, a black man in Alabama who just filed a lawsuit against police for cruelty, has died. Colbert County, Alabama discovered his body in an abandoned house near the Mississippi border on September 28. According to civil rights attorney Roderick Van Daniel, Richardson was hanging on a rope. Colbert County Sheriff Eric Balentine has declared Richardson’s death a suicide, despite his family’s current pursuit of justice.
“We received a call about a suspicious vehicle at a residence on Highway 72, on the west side of Colbert County,” Balentine told AL.com. “When our deputies went down to investigate the suspicious vehicle, they found Mr. Richardson. “He was hanging from a beam in the carport.”
Richardson’s wife, Leigh Ann Richardson, disputes the sheriff’s allegation.
“I need answers,” she told AL.com. “They staged this to look like a suicide. It’s not a suicide.”
According to Leigh, police in Sheffield, Alabama, frequently jailed and harassed her husband after he filed a lawsuit on February 26 against multiple officers and Police Lt. Max Dotson, alleging that deputies tortured him while he was in detention from November 30 to December 1, 2022. Leigh said detectives promised to drop the charges against Richardson provided he withdrew the federal case.
“It was a bribe to make him drop the lawsuit, and he never would,” she told me.
Sheffield Mayor Steve Stanley said he knew Richardson personally and was “sorry to hear of his death.”
“I’ve had a couple of meetings with Dennors in the past, and they’ve always been civil and congenial,” Stanley said, according to AL.com. “I certainly didn’t harbor any ill will against him.”
Following his arrest on narcotics charges, Richardson filed a lawsuit against six Sheffield police officers, including Dotson. Dotson and the other police officers, he claimed, held him in a restraint chair during his detention and told him, “Nobody can help you.” According to the lawsuit, cops tased the 39-year-old in his cell and sprayed him with mace. The complaint stated that Richardson faced a second-degree assault allegation against Dotson.
Richardson, who was back in jail earlier this year, also cited an alleged incident on January 9. He stated that he intended to contact 911 for medical assistance at the time, but officers grabbed the phone from him and threw him down. According to the lawsuit, police subsequently accused Richardson of filing a fraudulent emergency report.
Balentine stated that Richardson was allowed to leave jail and travel out of state to see a relative after being incarcerated on a drug charge.
The Sheriff’s Office reported, “Right after the release, he told his probation officer that he was not going to comply with the restrictions of the release, so they issued a warrant for his arrest.”
According to Leigh, Richardson chose his uncle in Washington to serve as his probationary guardian. Leigh explained that Richardson needed to be close to his uncle in Washington to have him serve as his probationary guardian. According to Leigh, Richardson did not want to leave his children, so he chose to turn himself in and fulfill his sentence. She claims that Richardson last communicated with her on September 26.
Leigh stated that Sheffield police identified Richardson as a white male in the missing person complaint, although they knew he was black.
Investigators claim Richardson had signs of despair, but his family disagrees.
“My son was joyful,” Richardson’s mother, Bonita Richardson, told AL.com. “He had no mental difficulties. He’d never kill himself. He wouldn’t harm himself.”
The family also expressed concerns about the location of Richardson’s discovery. Bonita reported that they discovered her son’s body approximately 15 miles from the Mississippi border.
“He would not have driven himself way out there, almost to Mississippi,” she told me. “He was scared of places like that.”
Van Daniel stated that the FBI will be examining the situation.
“This is a family issue, a community issue for Colbert County, Alabama, and the United States of America,” he stated, according to AL.com. “Knowing that a federal investigation will take place brings me relief. We all seek the truth, understanding, and justice.”
