Six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who tortured and abused two black men in racist attacks were sentenced Wednesday to 15 to 45 years in prison. Regarding state charges.
The men are former Rankin County Sheriff's Deputy Brett Morris McAlpin, 53. Christian Dedmon, 29 years old. Jeffrey Middleton, 46 years old. Hunter Elward, 31 years old. Daniel Opdyke, 28, and former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield, 32, pleaded guilty to state charges in August.
McAlpin, Middleton and Opdyke were sentenced to 20 years in prison. Dedmon is up to 25 years old. Elward is up to 45 years old. Hartfield will be sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. The sentences will run concurrently with federal prison terms, and all were ordered to pay $6,431 within two years of release and permanently surrender their law enforcement certificates.
Prosecutors say white officers dubbed themselves a “goon squad” to cover up the brutal attacks on Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker in January 2023 and were willing to use excessive force. He said he gave her a nickname.
In the attack, the men verbally abused Jenkins and Parker, punched them, assaulted them with stun guns and sex toys, and one of them shot Jenkins in the mouth in a “mock execution.”
The men also pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the assault and were sentenced to 10 to 40 years in federal prison.
attack
In January 2023, McAlpin received a call from a white man complaining that Jenkins and Parker were living with a white woman in a home in Braxton, Mississippi.
McAlpin then sent a text message to a group (self-proclaimed “The Goon Squad”) that the Justice Department described as known for “using excessive force and not reporting it.”
A group of men then went to the home without a warrant and assaulted Jenkins and Parker, punching and kicking them, calling them racial slurs, forcing them to drink liquid, and assaulting them with a dildo, the court heard. the ministry announced.
According to police, Dedmon fired the gun twice to intimidate the men.
In the mock execution, Elward removed a bullet from the gun's chamber and forced the gun into Jenkins' mouth before pulling the trigger. The bullet didn't fire the first time, but the second time he pulled the trigger, it slit Jenkins' tongue and broke his jaw.
The officers then planned a cover-up and agreed to plant drugs on Jenkins and Parker, and the false charges weighed against the men for months, the Associated Press reported.
sentencing
At Wednesday's sentencing, a lawyer read a statement on behalf of the victim.
“After Hunter Elward shot me, they left me bleeding to death on the floor and tried to get me jailed,” said a statement on behalf of Michael Jenkins. “January 24th was the worst day of my life. I was brutally beaten and nearly killed by the Rankin County Sheriff's Department (also known as the 'Goon Squad'). I never thought that just one night out with my friends could put my life in danger. ”
“They repeatedly punched me, kicked me, taped me, insulted me, waterboarded me and humiliated me,” the statement said.
“I can no longer do what I want to do, which is sing. I play drums in church. And then I got shot in the face and it affected my vision and I can't play anymore. … I wake up at night in a sweat from nightmares of seizures. Loud noises, police lights, sirens, everything gives me extreme fear and anxiety. I am broken hearted and my ex… I don't think I can go back to who I was,” the statement continued.
A statement on behalf of Eddie Parker said his actions on that terrifying night “left a scar on me that will last forever.”
“I never thought that the people I took an oath to protect and serve would be the ones I needed to protect,” the statement said. “I am constantly in fear that someone will break into my home and terrorize me again. The humiliation and embarrassment of a sexual assault is too great to talk about.”
“My life wasn't perfect. But it was mine. I doubt I'll ever have a similar experience again… They gave me and Michael Jenkins what they gave me. That is not mercy and I pray for capital punishment,” his statement concluded.
“The actions of these six individuals caused significant harm to the two victims, Michael Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker, whom they were sworn to protect,” Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch said in a statement Wednesday. He violated the trust of all citizens.” These former police officers also violated the trust of other men and women who wear the uniform with honor. ”
Fitch said the verdict was the culmination of 15 months of multi-agency collaboration, adding: “We have worked together to ensure justice for the victims in these horrific cases of abuse.”