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BOSSIP has reported on several Black men who have been found dead under suspicious circumstances that were never properly accounted for. At the risk of trying to rank which tragic death is “the worst,” this story lands pretty high on the list of shady situations.
Dennoriss Richardson, 39, was found dead Sept. 28, 2024, hanging from a rope inside a carport of a Colbert County, Alabama, house that he had no connection to.
The Department of Forensic Science in Huntsville ruled his cause of death a suicide. If that doesn’t sound suspicious enough, Richardson’s estranged wife Leigh Ann Richardson tells AL.com that she absolutely does not believe that autopsy report.
“I need answers,” she said. “This was made to look like a suicide. It’s not a suicide.”
Mrs. Richardson goes on to say that her husband was suing Sheffield, Alabama, police officers for brutality, and she alleges that the father of five was a regular victim of police brutality,
“They harassed him his whole life,” said the grieving wife to AL.com.
Dennoriss had been arrested several times for various crimes, and in his lawsuit, claimed that he was beaten, tased, maced, and strapped to a restraint chair for hours while being told “Nobody can help you.”
Following a Jan, 9, 2024 arrest, Dennoriss said in his lawsuit that he tried to dial 911 from jail for a medical emergency, but was physically removed from the phone and thrown in a cell.
His wife Mrs. Richardson says that the arrest was an act of intimidation on the part of the officers.
“It was a bribe to make him drop the lawsuit and he never would,” she said.
Mrs. Richardson says Dennoriss was depressed following the arrest, fearing that he would be sent back to prison. She also said he had been arrested and jailed on drug charges, and she says officers offered to let him go if he dropped the federal lawsuit.
Mrs. Richardson said she last heard from him on Sept. 25 when he told her that he was going to turn himself in to law enforcement. On Sept. 26, she filed a missing person’s report with Sheffield police. She noted that he was listed as a “white male” on numerous police reports even though they knew he was a Black man.
Dennoriss’ mother Bonita Richardson echoes Mrs. Richardson’s skeptical sentiments:
“My son was joyful,” she said to AL.com. “He didn’t have any mental issues. He would never kill himself. He would not hurt himself.”
The family has ordered a second autopsy and is awaiting the results. BOSSIP will be following up on this case as more information is available.
