Deputy stomped on genitals of mentally ill man who suffered agonizing death in custody, say prosecutors
By Sophie Gable
Daily Mail
Apr 3, 2025
A mentally ill man had his genitals forcefully stomped on by abusive police before being left to die in agony in jail, according to prosecutors.
Anthony Miller, 33, died from hypothermia and sepsis after spending two weeks covered in feces in a concrete cell with no access to a toilet or medical attention, court filings say.
On Tuesday Deputy Carl Carpenter pled guilty to charges relating to the abuse of Miller, who he was supposed to be helping after a suspected psychotic episode.
Nine other workers at the Alabama jail where Mitchell was being held had already pled guilty to charges relating to his death.
The plea agreement accused Carpenter and another deputy named James Handley of throwing Mitchell to the ground and kicking him. 'This is how we treat seizures in Walker County,' Carpenter allegedly told Mitchell.
Carpenter faces a maximum sentence up to ten years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and supervised release of up to three years. Handley has pled not guilty to deprivation of rights and witness tampering.
Mitchell was arrested after police were called to conduct a wellness check on him because of fears that he was in a psychotic state.
Steve Mitchell, Anthony's cousin, had grown concerned about him because he was making deluded remarks claiming that his dead brother was hidden in the attic and about 'portals to heaven and hell'.
He then called 911 and reported that Anthony Mitchell was in an 'extremely degraded' condition.
When deputies arrived, Anthony Mitchell fired a gun at officers and was arrested and detained.
Prosecutors said in court that Carpenter and Handley held Mitchell by his arms and dragged him 75 yards to the police vehicle. Handley was also accused of kicking Mitchell's legs.
Carpenter said in the plea agreement that his violent actions were 'out of anger' because of an aggressive culture in the sheriff's office.
The nightmare continued for Mitchell in jail as he was allegedly tortured for fourteen days in an isolation cell, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by his mother, Margaret.
The lawsuit was filed against Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith, nine corrections officers, and Carpenter.
The lawsuit compared Mitchell's cell to a 'dog kennel' and claimed he was forced to sit in the freezing temperatures while naked.
His mother said in the lawsuit that she was given a bag with his false teeth after he died, which was dated days beforehand, leading her to believe he wasn't able to eat while imprisoned.
Stills from video footage sent to Mitchell's mother by a corrections officer revealed deputies tasing him and dragging him out of his cell naked. The lawsuit also suggested that Mitchell was kept in a restrained chair inside a freezer.
Disturbing video footage of the jail revealed officers dragging Mitchell after he lay unresponsive for hours
Nine members of the jail staff pled guilty to a range of crimes related to Mitchell's treatment
Mitchell's mother said she was given a bag with his false teeth after his death. The date on the bag made her believe he was not able to eat while imprisoned
Jon C. Goldbarb, the attorney representing Mitchell's family in the lawsuit, wrote that the case was 'one of the most appalling cases of jail abuse the country has seen.'
After days of hellish conditions, Mitchell's infections turned to sepsis and the hypothermia resulted in a rapid decline.
He was lying in his isolated jail cell 'naked, wet, cold, and covered in feces,' according to prosecutors.
Mitchell was denied a mat or blanket and after two weeks he became unresponsive to officers.
Surveillance video captured officers leaving Mitchell in the cell for five hours before dragging his body to an emergency services vehicle.
'Tony had languished for five hours or more on a bare cement floor as his life trickled away, to the complete indifference of numerous corrections officers and medical staff,' the lawsuit stated.
A video showed two corrections officers guiding the jail's nurse practitioner, Alicia Herron to Mitchell's cell.
The two officers were seen 'clowning and laughing' as Mitchell lay motionless and in need of medical treatment.
When officers did bring him to the hospital, they were seen on surveillance dragging him out of his cell motionless.
Once he arrived at the hospital, he was 'unresponsive and pulseless.' Medical staff conducted CPR for over three and a half hours until his mother requested they stop resuscitation.
After his death, according to the lawsuit, Sheriff Smith said Mitchell 'suffered a medical emergency and became unresponsive' at the hospital.
Video footage handed over during the lawsuit showed Mitchell dragged out of a holding cell naked
Officers were seen laughing and clowning around while Mitchell lay lifeless and naked in his cell
Officers dragged Mitchell's lifeless body to a sheriff's vehicle to take him to the hospital while he suffered from hypothermia and sepsis
Jail staff were also accused of covering up the cruel punishment, as corrections officer Benjamin Shoemaker entered a federal plea agreement in January.
Prosecutors accused the employees of making Mitchell's living conditions as 'filthy as possible' to try to convince the commissioner they deserved higher pay.
Shoemaker told federal investigators that he was instructed to keep Mitchell on 'suicide watch' which was shorthand for keeping inmates in 'cruel conditions.'
Federal court documents revealed that Mitchell was taken to the hospital three hours after a nurse told Shoemaker he needed medical attention.
Mitchell's death was ruled a homicide and his autopsy concluded he died from hypothermia with sepsis as a contributing factor.
1 comment:
Every local police agency should have a mental health unit on standby. I heard the new Sheriff dissolved its highly trained mental health unit when he was elected.
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