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Case File 006 · Ruled · FBI Review

Dennoriss Richardson

Colbert County, Alabama · January 2024 – present
A suicide ruling, a wife who rejects it, a private autopsy — and an FBI
review the sheriff himself asked for.

Downtown Sheffield, Alabama
SUBJECT: DENNORISS RICHARDSON — COLBERT COUNTY, ALABAMA
FBI Review

🚶 Walk the File

Start nine months before his death — with the arrest he sued over. Eight pages, every one sourced.

8 pages · January 2024 → October 2024 and after

Photograph and map are public-domain works (Library of Congress; Wikimedia Commons). No photograph of Dennoriss Richardson is published here; his images belong to his family.

At a glance

Dennoriss Richardson Age 39 · Colbert County, Alabama
Found September 28, 2024 — hanging by a rope inside the carport of a house he had no connection to
Official ruling Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences: suicide; Colbert County investigators concurred
Private autopsy Obtained by his family; per AP reporting, it found the death consistent with hanging
Federal review October 2024 — Sheriff Eric Balentine announced the FBI had agreed to an independent review, at his request
Before his death In February 2024 Richardson sued the Sheffield Police Department in federal court, alleging excessive force in his January 2024 arrest

The case in brief

Dennoriss Richardson, 39, was found dead on September 28, 2024, hanging by a rope inside the carport of a house he had no connection to, in Colbert County, Alabama. The state forensic service ruled the death a suicide, and county investigators agreed. His wife, Leigh Richardson, has rejected that ruling publicly and repeatedly. The case carries a documented complication: nine months earlier, Richardson had sued the Sheffield Police Department in federal court, alleging officers used excessive force — a restraint chair, mace, a strike to the throat — during his January 2024 arrest. In October 2024, Sheriff Eric Balentine announced that the FBI had agreed to open an independent review of the death investigation, at his own request, in part to answer conflict-of-interest concerns. The family's private autopsy, as reported by the Associated Press, found the death consistent with hanging. This file holds each of those records as what it is: rulings, filings, announcements, and positions — attributed, and nothing beyond them.

The timeline — full text

  • January 9, 2024Richardson is arrested by Sheffield police. The treatment he alleged in his later lawsuit — restraint chair, mace, a strike to the throat — dates to this arrest, per his federal complaint. — Associated Press READ ARTICLE
  • February 2024Richardson files a federal civil lawsuit against the Sheffield Police Department alleging excessive force. The case is a public court record. — Associated Press READ ARTICLE; Bossip (reporting AL.com) READ ARTICLE
  • September 28, 2024Richardson is found dead, hanging by a rope inside the carport of a house he had no connection to, in Colbert County. — Associated Press READ ARTICLE; WAFF READ ARTICLE
  • Fall 2024 — the rulingThe Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences (Huntsville) rules the death a suicide. Colbert County investigators concur. — WAFF READ ARTICLE; Associated Press READ ARTICLE
  • October 2024 — the FBI reviewSheriff Eric Balentine announces that the FBI has agreed to open an independent investigation and review of the case — at his request — in part to address conflict-of-interest concerns arising from Richardson's lawsuit against a local department. — WAFF, Oct. 17, 2024 READ ARTICLE
  • The private autopsyThe family obtains a private autopsy. As reported by the Associated Press, it found Richardson's death consistent with hanging. — Associated Press READ ARTICLE
  • His wife's positionLeigh Richardson publicly and repeatedly rejects the suicide ruling and continues to seek answers about her husband's death. — Associated Press READ ARTICLE; Bossip READ ARTICLE
  • The record todayThe ruling of record is suicide. The FBI review was announced in October 2024; no outcome of that review appears in the record this file relies on. The federal civil lawsuit remains a public court record. — WAFF READ ARTICLE; Associated Press READ ARTICLE

Public statements — who has said what, on the record

People & offices in the record

Dennoriss Richardson · 39 · Colbert County, Alabama
His wife
Leigh Richardson · disputes the ruling publicly
Officials & offices
Eric Balentine · Colbert County Sheriff · Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences · state autopsy & ruling · FBI · independent review, announced Oct. 2024 · Sheffield Police Department · defendant in Richardson's federal civil lawsuit

The records — what exists, and what has not been released

Documents & reporting

News recordWAFF, Oct. 17, 2024 — the FBI agrees to investigate/review, at the sheriff's request. READ
News recordAssociated Press — Richardson's death in national context: the ruling, the private autopsy, the lawsuit, his wife's position. READ
News recordBossip (reporting AL.com) — additional detail on the death and the family's response. Labeled secondary. READ
How to read this file: Richardson's lawsuit against a local police department is a documented fact of public record; it is included because it is part of why a federal review was requested — not as an implication about his death, about which CrowdSleuth draws no conclusion. Officials have ruled on this death, and that ruling is recorded plainly above.

A note for readers: this file concerns a death ruled a suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling, in the U.S. you can call or text 988 — the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — at any time.

Know a case that should be documented? Tell us the name, the place, and what you know — we research the public record from there.