Mississippi
Mississippi cops convicted of torturing Black men also took part in the police shooting of another Black man, lawsuit says
- Six Mississippi police officers were convicted of torturing two Black men in August.
- Two of those officers were also involved in the shooting of Pierre Woods, according to a lawsuit.
- Woods’s family says police used excessive force when they shot him to death in 2019.
At least two Mississippi sheriff’s deputies convicted of torturing Black men — both of them members of the Rankin County “Goon Squad” — were also present for the shooting of a different Black man in 2019, according to a lawsuit.
Six officers in total pleaded guilty on August 3 to federal charges related to the attack on two Black men earlier in the year. Five of the former officers were deputies for the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office, and one was an officer for the nearby Richland Police Department.
The six men, who called themselves the “Goon Squad” because they were willing to secretly use excessive force, broke into the home of Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker in Braxton, Mississippi on January 24. They didn’t have a warrant. The officers then beat and sexually assaulted the two men before one of the deputies — Hunter Elward — shot Jenkins in the mouth, according to a criminal complaint.
Two of those convicted “Goon Squad” officers, Elward and Christian Dedmon, were also present during the police shooting of Pierre Woods in February 2019, according to a lawsuit.
“Enough shots to kill an elephant”
Vanessa Barrett and Dris Mitchell, two women who have children with Woods, filed a lawsuit in 2021 against Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey, the City of Pelahatchie, and more than a dozen other police officers who were there when Woods was killed.
Court documents filed on August 14 note that Elward and Dedmon were named as defendants in the case, and that they have since been fired from the sheriff’s department after pleading guilty to several federal charges.
Police said officers responded to Woods’s home after someone called to report Woods was firing a gun on his property, the Associated Press reported at the time. Sheriff Bailey said that officers used tear gas and tried to negotiate with Woods to get him to come out of his house, according to the outlet.
In an amended lawsuit complaint, attorneys for Mitchell and Barrett said Woods ran to the front door of his house “physically disoriented and visually impaired from the tear gas” and with his hands above his head.
“Although Woods had a pistol in one of his hands, both his hands were extended above his head as he approached the front door,” the amended complaint says. “Once he reached the front door of his home, Woods immediately threw the pistol to the ground, and it landed in the area where Deputy Hunter Elward and Deputy Zach Acy were positioned.”
The officers began firing “without warning” as Woods exited the home and continued to fire after he fell to the ground, leaving “both his body and home riddled with bullet fragments,” the amended complaint says.
The lawsuit says Woods appeared “disoriented, mentally challenged, and possibly intoxicated” when police found him alone inside his home.
Woods’s brother, Lataskin Woods, told WAPT, a local ABC affiliate in nearby Jackson, that he thought police used excessive force at the time.
“They fired enough shots to kill an elephant,” Woods told the outlet. “You’ll go to jail for shooting a dog as many times as they shot my brother.”
Family members of Woods have said that he was “mentally disturbed” and may have been upset over the anniversary of his mother’s death, the Associated Press reported at the time.
Tamekia Reed, an attorney for Barrett and Mitchell, declined to comment about the case when reached by Insider. No charges have ever been filed against any officers related to Woods’ death.
Elward involved in 3rd violent incident
Elward was also involved in the July 2021 death of Damien Cameron.
Elward tased and beat Damien Cameron, a Black man, before he died, according to a police report obtained by Insider.
Police responded to Cameron’s home after his neighbor called to report that he was vandalizing their home, according to a police report.
Cameron’s mother, Monica Lee, told Insider that Damien went into her neighbor’s home to ask for yard work, and the neighbor became upset upon finding him inside the house. Lee denies that Damien vandalized the neighbor’s house.
In the report, Elward wrote that he punched Cameron at least three times and tased him three times.
Lee previously told Insider that deputies knelt on her son’s back for more than 15 minutes even as he complained that he could not breathe. The Mississippi state medical examiner found Cameron’s cause of death inconclusive, according to Lee.
A Mississippi grand jury declined to press charges against Elward and other deputies involved in the beating due to insufficient evidence in October 2022.
Three independent forensic pathologists consulted by The New York Times said hemorrhaging in Cameron’s neck showed clear signs that the cause of death was asphyxiation.
The Rankin County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately return a request for comment from Insider.
Mississippi
Arizona State RB Cam Skattebo ‘disrespected’ by Mississippi State football’s defensive game plan
Cam Skattebo slammed Mississippi State on the football field on Saturday night and also took another jab afterward in his postgame press conference.
The Arizona State running back, following a 30-23 Sun Devils win at Mountain America Stadium, took exception to MSU only utilizing three defenders on the line of scrimmage. The results were damning.
Arizona State (2-0) rushed for 346 yards. It was the most allowed by Mississippi State (1-1) in a game since Arkansas in 2016. Skattebo’s 262 rushing yards on 33 carries were the second-most in ASU history.
“They couldn’t stop us in that three-down front,” Skattebo said when asked what made ASU’s run game successful. “Honestly, we all felt disrespected with them in a three-down front. You can’t come in here and put five guys in the box and expect to stop six. I don’t know. We took that a little disrespectful, and we rushed for what over 300 yards? Something around there. It is what it is.”
Skattebo, a 5-foot-11, 215-pound junior, also led Arizona State with 35 receiving yards on three catches.
“I knew these dudes were big and heavy,” he said. “We knew going into the game they weren’t as physical as most other teams but they’re heavy. So when they hit you, it hurts, no matter how hard they’re coming — 300 pounds at 10 miles per hour or 16 miles per hour hurts the same. I just kept my feet moving.”
Mississippi State trailed 30-3 in the third quarter but scored 20 unanswered points to cut the score to 30-23 with 5:27 to play. The Bulldogs never touched the ball again, with the Sun Devils running out the clock on 12 plays.
Skattebo had a game-sealing 39-yard rush that allowed ASU to kneel down.
“Until the end, we had our ups and downs there, but that was fun,” he said. “You can ask these guys up front, bullying dudes, grown men that are 300 pounds, that’s fun to us. That’s fun to the front-five, the front-seven and the running back. The quarterback probably hates it. He probably likes watching, but he didn’t complain one time the whole game.”
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
Mississippi
Why Mississippi State football loss to Arizona State revealed a strong Jeff Lebby culture
It was 11:10 p.m. Saturday in Starkville when Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt barreled into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game.
At that point, it would’ve been fair for Mississippi State football fans to call it a night. The Bulldogs (1-1) trailed 27-3 at ASU in the final minute of the second quarter. They were dominated in just about every statistical category. New coach Jeff Lebby looked like he was headed toward his first loss, and an embarrassing one.
And even if you gave the second half a chance, eyes just a crack open, that wasn’t encouraging either. Arizona State (2-0) took the opening drive of the third quarter for a field goal while eating 8 minutes, 27 seconds of game time. That just about decided the game before Mississippi State touched the ball in the second half.
Wrong.
Instead, MSU scored touchdowns on three of its next four drives and cut the score to 30-23 with 5:27 to play. The defense, which was torched for 346 rushing yards, needed one more stop to let the offense try to tie it. It would’ve been the largest comeback in program history.
Mississippi State’s path to a bowl game seems murkier than it was a week ago. But in the long-term, there’s still encouragement after the 30-23 loss.
“Our guys battled in an incredible way in the second half, and we’re going to hold on to that,” Lebby said in his postgame radio interview. “We’re going to find ways to get back in the building, get back to work and be able to walk into Davis Wade (Stadium) with a ton of confidence and ready to go win a football game.”
The encouragement from Mississippi State’s comeback effort
Lebby said after beating Eastern Kentucky 56-7 in Week 1 that there is an abundance of teachable moments in wins, just like losses.
There is plenty to point to after losing to Arizona State.
Mississippi State came out incredibly flat. The Sun Devils scored on their first five possessions. The MSU offense had one field goal, two punts, a fumble returned for a touchdown and a turnover-on-downs in the first half. MSU had -13 rushing yards in the first half.
There were concerns entering the game about the travel distance, late kickoff and high temperature. But let’s be real, Mississippi State was playing so poorly at the start that it was hard to judge if those were factors.
“I got to do a better job getting these guys ready to go play out of the gate,” Lebby said. “I thought our energy, our effort and our emotion was really good, but then we did not play clean there in the first quarter, so that part was frustrating.”
The Bulldogs outscored the Sun Devils 20-0 in the final quarter and a half. It was a surprise. Arizona State was rolling. Mississippi State was not.
MORE: Introducing Sam Sklar, the Clarion Ledger’s new Mississippi State beat reporter
For Lebby, a first-time head coach at any level, let it be a learning moment for him. It was his first time getting pinned in a corner. The Bulldogs adjusted correctly in the second half like good coaches do.
The rushing offense and defense both need to improve. Badly. Quarterback Blake Shapen has been impressive in his first two Mississippi State games and the wide receiver room is deep and talented as ever, but they can’t be the only answer.
That’s just for this season.
Mississippi State has its first tally in the loss column. But it isn’t a strike against Lebby leading the future of the program.
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
Sam Leavitt leads ASU to convincing victory in 1st career start
Leavitt and the Sun Devils cruised past visiting Wyoming 48-7 on Saturday night at Mountain America Stadium.
The Arizona State football team elevated its play on the field in its 48-7 win over Wyoming in Week 1.
It is elevating its uniform game for Week 2 against Mississippi State.
ASU football is wearing a gold alternate jersey against the Bulldogs at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe on Saturday night.
The jersey includes maroon “Arizona State” lettering and maroon numbering, along with a noticeable Big 12 logo.
The Sun Devil football team unveiled the uniform last month, with Athletic Director Graham Rossini posting that “you’ll see this on the field early this season.”
On Thursday, ASU football announced that it would be wearing the uniform against Mississippi State with a video that said “Modern shine, with a classic design.”
On Friday, it posted another look at the uniform.
More: Arizona State vs Mississippi State live score updates, analysis for college football game
ASU vs Mississippi State schedule, TV: How to watch college football game
Promising look: Arizona State football’s 2024 win prediction doubles after Week 1 victory over Wyoming
Social media reacted favorably overall to ASU football’s uniform vs Mississippi State:
Do you like the look for ASU football?
ASU vs. Mississippi State picks: Who wins Week 2 college football game?
Looking promising: Arizona State football makes huge leap in college football ranking, Big 12 power rankings
Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
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