Alabama Deputies Charged in Jail Assault, Man Dies

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    MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Two sheriff’s deputies in Alabama face indictments from February for allegedly using excessive force on a detainee who later succumbed to sepsis and hypothermia while in jail, as per court documents released on Tuesday.

    A federal grand jury is charging Walker County deputies Carl Carpenter and James Handley with felony deprivation of rights. The officers are accused of assaulting Tony Mitchell in 2023, who died two weeks after his arrest while being held in unsanitary conditions without medical care. The jail cell where Mitchell was detained had no toilet and remained covered in feces. In addition, over 10 employees at the jail have previously admitted guilt to charges linked to the 33-year-old’s death.

    The incident began when the deputies detained Mitchell on January 12, 2023, following a relative’s request for a welfare check. Initially, the sheriff’s office justified the arrest, claiming Mitchell discussed portals to hell and had allegedly shot at the law enforcement officers.

    Carpenter reportedly stepped on the handcuffed Mitchell, preventing him from walking, after which both deputies purportedly dragged and mistreated him further. Handley, aside from these allegations, faces an additional charge of witness tampering for allegedly providing false testimony to a separate grand jury regarding the incident in August.

    Despite the charges, neither Carpenter nor Handley are blamed for causing any injuries directly leading to Mitchell’s death. However, plea agreements reached in the cases involving the other 10 individuals have exposed a culture within local law enforcement that allegedly encouraged the mistreatment of incarcerated individuals like Mitchell. Some documents revealed that officers deliberately maintained poor conditions in the jail to persuade county commissioners to hike salaries and the jail’s budget.

    These two deputies are the first Walker County Sheriff’s Office personnel facing charges who did not serve in the jail itself. Their arraignment is scheduled for March.

    There are no legal representatives listed for either deputy in court filings, and the sheriff’s office has yet to respond to inquiries for comment.