A Call Reporting Two Black Men Who 'Looked Suspicious' Leads 6 Racist Cops to Torture Men, Shoot One in Mouth

Six off-duty officers broke into a home after receiving a call reporting two suspicious-looking Black men in a home in an all-white neighborhood. Over a period of nearly two hours, the now-former officers verbally assaulted the men using racist names, physically assaulted them, used a sex toy on one of them and shot him in the mouth. Before leaving the home, the former officers falsely framed the men for a crime that could have landed them nearly 40 years in prison.

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On January 24, 2023, Bret McAlpin, (former) Chief Investigator with the Rankin County Sherriff’s Department, received a call from a man living on Conerly Road in Braxton, MS. The caller reported that two Black men were staying in a neighbor’s home and appeared suspicious. The caller gave McAlpin the address 135 Conerly Dr.

Conerly Road is a predominately white neighborhood in Braxton, a small town about 20 miles northwest of Jackson.

Michael Cory Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker had stayed with a longtime friend in her home at the reported address on Conerly Road for several weeks after she had fallen ill and needed someone to help care for her.

The Goon Squad Goes on a Mission

McAlpin asked a group of officers calling themselves “The Goon Squad” if they were up for a mission. The men adopted this name because they were 'willing to use excessive force and not report it.'

The Goon Squad included former Rankin County Sheriff’s Deputies Christian Dedmon, Brett McAlpin, Hunter Elward, Daniel Opdyke, and Jeffrey Middleton, as well as former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield.

In 2022, three of the men - Opdyke, Elward, and Dedmon - faced accusations of using excessive force after Dedmon beat and tased a white man and fired a gun near his head to coerce him into a confession. Elward and Opdyke stood back and watched the incident.

Officers Break-in Home, Assault, Torture, Racially Profile Jenkins and Parker

On that cold January evening, the six officers entered the Conery Drive home by kicking in the sides and back door. They lacked probable cause or a search warrant to legally enter the home.

As the door fell, one of the (former) officers fired a shot into the wall to intimidate Jenkins and Parker.

The (former) officers handcuffed Parker and Jenkins. Over the next 90 minutes, the six (former) officers assaulted, tortured, made racist comments toward the men, and shot Jenkins before plotting a cover-up that could have sent the men to prison for 39 years.

The (former) officers started beating the men with their fists while calling them the 'n' word, 'monkey,' and using other racial epithets toward them. The (former) cops told Jenkins and Parker to get out of Rankin County, to go back to Jackson, and to “leave their side of the river.”

One of the men grabbed a dildo from a bedroom and mounted it onto the end of a BB gun, shoving the weapon into Parker’s mouth to mimic oral sex. The former officers hit the men with the dildo and threatened to sodomize them, but changed plans after pulling down Jenkins's pants and realizing he had defecated himself.

The torture continued as the former officers doused various substances, including cooking oil, chocolate syrup, and milk, over the men’s heads and into their mouths. They pretended to fire their guns at the men. The former officers tossed eggs at Jenkins and Parker before forcing them to strip naked and shower together to erase any DNA evidence.

The former officers took turns tasing the men. Subsequent reports revealed that they discharged their tasers 17 consecutive times.

Former Cops Plan a Cover-Up Story

Elward escalated the situation by shoving his gun inside Jenkins's mouth and pulling the trigger. A bullet shattered Jenkins's jaw and exited through the back of his neck. He collapsed to the floor, believing he was dead.

The former officers realized they had made a huge mistake and began concocting a cover-up story. Dedmon would claim he witnessed Jenkins selling drugs in the driveway. Jenkins allegedly consented to a search, resulting in the discovery of two bags of crystal methamphetamine. Inside the home, Jenkins removed his handcuffs and reached for a gun, forcing the officer to shoot him.

Dedmon produced the methamphetamine. He had confiscated it from an informant from an earlier crime but never logged the drug as evidence.

As Jenkins lay bleeding and in pain, the former officers gathered spent shell casings and taser cartridges and destroyed the surveillance video from the home. They submitted drug evidence to the crime lab, filed false reports, and charged Jenkins with assault on an officer and several drug crimes.

McAlpin even believed they could convince Parker to go along with their story. They promised “to kill” any officer who changed the narrative and ensured him that he would not face prison time.

Hartfield attempted to burn the clothes Jenkins and Parker had been wearing when doused with cooking oil, chocolate, milk and eggs. When he could not figure out how to do that because they were too wet, he tossed them in the nearby woods.

Hartfield also ripped out the hard drive of a home surveillance system and later threw it in Steen Creek in Florence.

Jenkins Survives, Officers Arrested

Jenkins survived his injuries, although he and Parker are left with a lifetime of psychological torment from the incident. The charges against them were eventually dropped.

Authorities arrested and charged all six officers with various crimes, including violating the men's civil rights and assault. The former officers pleaded guilty to the charges against them.

Dedmon, Opdyke, and Elward also pleaded guilty to the charges in the 2022 incident.

All six face sentences ranging from 5 to 30 years when sentenced. Their sentencing has twice been delayed.

Jenkins and Parker filed a $400 million lawsuit against the Rankin County Sherriff’s Office.

Sources:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/goon-squad-mississippi-sheriff-bryan-bailey-liability-torture-2-black-men-michael-corey-jenkins-eddie-terrell-parker/ https://abcnews.go.com/US/sentencing-deputies-officer-assault-2-black-men-delayed/story?id=106387854

https://people.com/victims-of-mississippi-goon-squad-officers-recount-racist-torture-abuse-7643752

https://apnews.com/article/mississippi-goon-squad-civil-lawsuit-015e3ff85f47dd8c18c0b6df539c7630