The Rankin County Sheriff’s Department is facing yet another lawsuit.
Katie Carson sued the department in federal court in November, accusing jail employees of doing nothing to prevent Christopher Ray, with whom she has a baby, from committing suicide inside the jail in 2021. The lawsuit names Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey and six county jail employees as defendants.
The Rankin County Sheriff’s Department has a history of violent interactions that have drawn attention from both the national media and federal authorities.
At least five men in the custody of the department have died in recent years, Business Insider previously reported, and the department’s been under considerable scrutiny since several deputies pleaded guilty to torturing two Black men in August. A recent investigation from The New York Times revealed dozens of other victims of abuse at the hands of department officials.
Despite the string of controversies, the sheriff has yet to face any consequences and, in fact, was reelected in November after running unopposed. Bailey has previously said there’s no way he can monitor the behavior of everyone in his department when asked about the behavior of the five convicted deputies, who called themselves the “Goon Squad.”
The case of Christopher Ray
According to the lawsuit from Carson, police took Ray to the Rankin County jail on October 31, 2020 after his bail bond company turned him in. Ray had an outstanding warrant at the time for failing to appear in court for a drug charge, according to the lawsuit.
Jail employees first put Ray in a “segregation pod” to comply with COVID-19 protocols, according to court documents.
A few days later, they moved him to a different cell and placed him on medical watch after he was diagnosed with complications from drug withdrawal, the suit says.
Officers were able to monitor Ray on video cameras inside his new cell and described him as “anxious and depressed,” the document states. Ray first attempted to take his own life on November 8, when he unsuccessfully tried to hang himself in the jail shower, according to the lawsuit.
After that first attempt, Ray returned to his monitored cell, found a stronger place to tie his t-shirt, and attempted to hang himself again, the document says.
Ray’s second suicide attempt came inside a cell that was being monitored 24 hours a day by video camera. He remained unresponsive inside his cell for 44 minutes before any jail staff intervened, according to the suit.
The lawsuit says that “some or all” of the named defendants witnessed Ray’s first suicide attempt and talked about it afterward. One lieutenant said jail employees took no measures to reduce Ray’s risk to himself because they thought he was a “pussy” and wouldn’t try to kill himself a second time, the lawsuit says.
The defendants who witnessed Ray’s first suicide attempt also did not report or document the failed attempt and did not try to provide Ray medical attention, the lawsuit says.
After Ray was transported to the hospital, the lawsuit also says Sheriff Bailey falsely told Ray’s mother that his second suicide attempt came after midnight on November 9, which the complaint says was a “deliberate falsehood” meant to “deflect the suspicion of any misconduct by his detention officers.”
Ray succumbed to his injuries and died in the hospital on November 10, 2020, according to the complaint.
Carson’s lawsuit accuses the sheriff’s department of having a “culture” of ignoring the known health risks of its detainees and inmates.
This is not the first time the sheriff’s department has been accused of ignoring medical needs.
A deadly history at the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department
In May 2021, Cory Jackson died in the Rankin County jail. Jackson’s family previously told Insider they were taking him to the hospital during a mental health crisis when he jumped from their car. Sheriff’s deputies arrested him for disorderly conduct.
Jackson’s family says deputies ignored repeated requests to transport him to the hospital. The deputies said that paramedics insisted Jackson was “too violent for them to do anything,” according to records obtained by Business Insider.
Once he was taken to the jail, security camera footage shows Jackson thrashing in a restraint chair for over an hour before becoming unresponsive.
Adam Coker also died inside the jail. Police arrested Coker for selling meth to an informant in September 2020, according to an incident report. Jail security camera footage obtained by Business Insider showed Coker pacing around a jail cell for hours and vomiting several times without anyone providing medical attention before becoming unresponsive and ultimately dying.
A sheriff’s department spokesperson declined to comment on Carson’s lawsuit when reached by Business Insider, citing the ongoing litigation. An attorney for Carson did not immediately return BI’s request for comment.
