A Black man in Alabama was found hanging in an abandoned house, and a local sheriff’s department deemed his death a suicide — but his wife believes there is more to the story. Now, the FBI is looking into his death.
When the Colbert County Sheriff’s Office initially determined that 39-year-old Dennoriss Richardson’s death, discovered on Sept. 28, was a suicide, his wife, Leigh Richardson, became skeptical for various reasons.
Dennoriss, a father of five and a baseball and football coach for children, left no note, Leigh told CNN and Associated Press. He also had no known connection to the home where his body was discovered, which was several miles from his Sheffield home.
Leigh was estranged but on good terms with Dennoriss when he died. told AL.com she needed answers. “This was made to look like a suicide,” she told me. “It’s not a suicide.”
Dennoriss’ mother, Bonita Richardson, came to the same conclusion and paid for a private autopsy of his body. “My son was joyful,” she told AL.com. “He had no mental difficulties. He’d never kill himself. He wouldn’t harm himself.”
According to the Associated Press, Leigh believes Dennoriss died as a result of a lawsuit he filed against local police earlier this year, rather than a suicide.
Dennoriss claimed in his lawsuit, which is one of several identical suits filed against the Sheffield Police Department, that he was attacked, sprayed with tear gas, jolted with a taser, and denied medical assistance while in jail.
Leigh’s fear is exacerbated by Colbert County residents’ long-standing distrust of local law enforcement, with multiple community members making claims of excessive force similar to Dennoriss’, according to the AP, as well as the fact that he died by hanging, which recalls the area’s long history of lynchings.
Given the history of racial violence, Tori Bailey, president of the local NAACP branch, told the Associated Press that it is understandable that community people would have a “visceral” reaction to a Black man being hanged and would want a thorough inquiry.
After the sheriff’s investigation into Dennoriss’ death left his loved ones unsatisfied, Sheriff Eric Balentine asked the FBI to undertake its own, according to the Associated Press. The federal government is currently reviewing the allegations of criminal misbehavior.
“We feel confident in what our findings were,” Balentine stated to the Associated Press; “but we feel like by doing this we can give the family more peace of mind.”
“Transparency is always a good way to mend some fences with the community,” according to the sheriff.
Dennoriss had already had run-ins with the Sheffield Police Department, including a five-year prison sentence for narcotics possession in 2006, according to the Associated Press. He was also arrested at least six more times on allegations of robbery and assault, none of which ended in conviction.
However, Leigh claims that his relationship with the Sheffield police began as a child. “They harassed him his whole life,” she told AL.com.
According to the source, he was charged with trafficking meth the same week he filed his case against the agency in February. He was out on bond when he died.
The Colbert County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately return PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Leigh, who has not made any specific claims but is confident her husband did not commit suicide, told CNN she is “very suspicious of the circumstances that were happening in his life prior to his death.”
“I do have hope that the FBI and the justice department will look into all of the details,” she told me. “And also not only for Dennoriss — this is a huge issue in our community.”
Leigh also stated that the father of five’s loss had left his wife, children, and neighborhood feeling empty.
“He took being a father, a role model, very seriously,” Leigh told CNN about her late husband. “He was not only a good father, but he was also a mentor in the community, and he had many nieces and nephews that looked up to him.”