‘Was In Fear for His Life: Family Suspects Lynching After Alabama Black Man Found Dead Hanging from Beam after Filing Lawsuit Against Abusive Cops

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.” Denissonn Richardson, a 39-year-old Black man, was found dead hanging from a beam in an abandoned house. The local sheriff said it was a suicide, but his family believes he was murdered. (Photo: courtesy of family) 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...