The mother of a Mississippi man who died after deputies fired Tasers 17 times during a mental health crisis response has filed a $150 million federal civil rights lawsuit against the Simpson County Sheriff’s Department, according to a complaint reviewed by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.
The case stems from a September 2023 incident in which deputies responded to a 911 call made by the man’s family after he reported experiencing hallucinations.Â
According to the federal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Jackson, deputies deployed Tasers 17 times over roughly 10 minutes during the encounter.Â
The complaint states the man was on his knees with his hands behind his head when the first Taser deployment occurred.
The lawsuit was filed under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, a federal civil rights statute that allows individuals to seek damages against state and local officials for alleged constitutional violations. The Simpson County complaint names individual deputies as well as the sheriff’s department as defendants, according to court records and the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.
A January 2025 investigation by Mississippi Today and The New York Times found that law enforcement agencies in Mississippi largely set their own policies regarding Taser deployment limits and training requirements. Following the reporting, state lawmakers proposed stricter regulations on Taser use, including mandatory training standards and limits on deployment practices.
Broader data has raised ongoing questions about Taser-related deaths nationwide.Â
A Reuters analysis found that more than 1,081 people died following police Taser use in the United States between 2001 and 2018. The analysis reported that about 90% of those individuals were unarmed at the time of the incident, and approximately 32% were Black. Amnesty International has also called for greater restrictions or suspension of Taser use by law enforcement.
