FBI investigates death of Black man found hanging in Alabama

The FBI is investigating the death of a Black man who was found hanging in an abandoned Alabama house in September. Dennoriss Richardson's mother doesn't believe her son took his own life, as determined by the local sheriff, she told ABC News on Tuesday.

The Colbert County Sheriff’s Office found the 39-year-old in a rural area of the county almost 30 minutes away from his residence in Sheffield, Alabama, his mother Bonita Richardson said.

The sheriff’s department ruled Dennoriss Richardson’s death a suicide, but his mother believes he was killed. She claimed that her son didn’t leave a note and had no connections to the house where he was found.

“I would not accept a suicide [ruling],” Bonita Richardson told ABC News in a phone call. “I will not allow it [his case] to be closed until justice was found because there was foul play somewhere.”

Bonita Richardson believes someone associated with the Sheffield Police Department was involved in her son’s death because he filed a federal lawsuit against the local department in February, according to the lawsuit. He alleged that police used excessive force by assaulting him, denying him medical attention, spraying him with tear gas and shocking him with a stun gun while he was behind bars.

The Sheffield Police Department did not immediately return ABC News’ request for a statement but has disputed the allegations and in May filed a motion to dismiss the suit. The Colbert County Coroner’s Office also did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for Richardson’s autopsy report or cause of death.

Colbert County Sheriff Eric Balentine told ABC News that the autopsy report ruled Richardson’s cause of death as “hanging” and manner of death as a suicide.

Balentine said the FBI field office in Birmingham accepted his request to investigate Richardson’s death because, even though the sheriff believed his department’s ruling of a suicide is accurate, he wanted Richardson’s family to find some level of peace.

“If it had been one of my daughters or one of my nieces or any family member of mine, if I had any questions, regardless of what color they are, I would want to be sure that no stone was left unturned, and that's kind of what we're doing here," Balentine told ABC News over the phone. "We want to show transparency, to show that we did our job to the best of our ability with all of our resources, but I do understand the nature and the concerns of the family.”

When asked why the sheriff’s department ruled Richardson’s death a suicide, Balentine said he could not divulge any more information about the case since the FBI currently has it open for investigation.

“The FBI is aware of the tragic death of Dennoriss Richardson and takes allegations of federal law violations seriously,” its Birmingham office told ABC News in a statement. “The FBI reviews allegations of criminal conduct for their merit and conducts further investigation if there is evidence of a potential violation of federal law.”

Richardson went to Sheffield Mayor Steven Stanley's office on at least two occasions to discuss some concerns, the mayor told ABC News in a statement.

During one visit, Stanley said he complained of being profiled. Stanley recalled telling Richardson profiling was not acceptable and if it was confirmed, it would not be tolerated. Stanley noted that he assumed Richardson was referring to racial profiling, and said that all their conversations were civil and non-confrontational.

In 2006, Richardson pleaded guilty to possession of drugs and received a sentence of five years behind bars, according to his attorney Roderick Van Daniel. Richardson was arrested a minimum of six additional times by the Sheffield Police Department for charges including disorderly conduct, robbery and assault.

Those charges, with the exception of a traffic violation for expired tags, were dropped, his attorney said.

The week Richardson filed his lawsuit against Sheffield police, he was charged with trafficking meth, according to Van Daniel. He was taken into custody in a residence where drugs allegedly were found. Richardson was out on bond when he died.