DENNORISS RICHARDSON: Found dead in an abandoned house after family sued police for brutality. PHOTO COURTESY OF TRINITYMEMORIALFUNERALHOMES.COM

Miami – A Black man whose family filed a lawsuit against an Alabama police department for brutality was found hanged to death.

The FBI is investigating the death of Dennoriss Richardson who accused Colbert County police officers of assault during his five-day stay in jail, according to Black Enterprise.

Richardson’s body was found Sept. 28 hanging by a rope at an abandoned house.

His family’s attorney, Roderick Van Daniel, said he doesn’t suspect suicide despite the medical examiner’s ruling.

The family has ordered a second autopsy and is awaiting the results.

“This is a family issue, community issue for Colbert County, State of Alabama, and the United States of America,” Van Daniel said in a statement. “I am grateful to know that a federal investigation will be done. We all are seeking the truth, understanding, and justice.

After he was released from jail, Richardson was re-arrested on a charge of drug possession three weeks later.

His wife, Leigh Ann Richardson, said her husband was asked to drop the lawsuit in exchange for dropping the drug charge but he refused.

Colbert County Sheriff Eric Balentine said Richardson suffered from depression and ruled the death a suicide but Van Daniel and his family disagree.

He said last week he contacted the U.S. attorney’s office about the case.

“We submitted a request in writing to the FBI asking them to come in and review the case, just to be transparent and to be sure we didn’t miss anything,” Balentine said. “They responded back a couple days later, and they are going to be reviewing the case."

Richardson’s family said he was not depressed and not a man who would commit suicide and leave his five children behind.

They said they had no idea what he was doing in an abandoned domicile near the Alabama-Mississippi border but suspect foul play.

They stopped short of saying the police were involved.

“We have to believe in the checks and balances of our governmental system to make sure that all our citizens within our communities are safe," Van Daniel said. "No one should be living in fear. No matter the color of your skin. We all are Americans and have the same concerns with living in a safe and peaceful community."

He said it’s rare for someone to commit suicide by hanging.

“Someone hung on the porch should not be seen as an everyday occurrence. I believe in the principles of this country and the words within the Constitution. We cannot allow injustice to overtake the normalcy that we have all strived so hard for to make this country the leader of this world for democracy," he said.

Van Daniel said the family is proceeding with the lawsuit against the police department.

“We are moving forward step by step to substitute the party for the current lawsuit,” Van Daniel said. “It is a procedural issue, but we will get it done in the appropriate time frame within the federal laws over Mr. Richardson’s case.”

Colbert County has a population of 57,227 and encompasses 622 square miles, according to the 2020 U.S. Census.

About 75 percent of residents are white, 16 percent of African descent and 3 percent mixed race or multiracial.

An FBI spokesperson declined comment on the case pending the investigation.