AG won’t bring murder charges in jailhouse death

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has announced that he will not seek charges in connection with the death of Tory Sanders, a Black Tennessee man who died in 2017 after officers restrained him in jail in Mississippi County.

The Feb. 26 announcement concludes an eight-month investigation by the Attorney General’s Office that civil rights leaders called for in the wake of last year’s civil rights protests across the country.

In a nine-page report, the AG’s office concluded that there is not sufficient evidence to prove first- or second-degree murder charges against the officer accused of restraining Sanders, former Mississippi County Sheriff Cory Hutcheson.

The office concluded the state did not have sufficient evidence to prove officers involved in the incident knowingly caused Sanders’ death. Additionally, the office concluded there was insufficient evidence to prove causation.

The Missouri State Conference of the NAACP and Black lawmakers called on the Attorney General’s Office to review the prior administration’s investigation of the death of Sanders, whose death was similar to that of George Floyd in May. Floyd died after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin restrained him by pressing his knee to Floyd’s neck. Floyd’s death spurred public outrage and protests.

At the time of his death, Sanders, 28, was being held in protective custody by the Mississippi County Sheriff’s Department awaiting transfer to a mental health facility, according to the report. Law enforcement brought him to the jail after an overnight incident at a Charleston truck stop.

He reportedly ended up in Charleston while driving from his home in Nashville, Tennessee to Memphis.

While in custody, Sanders became increasingly agitated and his behavior deteriorated, the report said. The jailers tried restrain him, at points deploying stun guns into the cell and pepper spray. After Hutcheson arrived at the jail, he and nine others entered the cell and restrained Sanders.

At one point, witnesses reported that Hutcheson and the jail administrator were near Sanders’ head and neck, with the jail administrator applying pressure to Sanders’ brachial plexus. Sanders went limp and fell. A jail nurse, Hutcheson and another deputy did chest compressions until EMTs arrived, the report said.

Sanders was later taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Schmitt said any other remaining charges would not be possible at this point because of the expiration of the statute of limitations.

In a statement, he called Sanders’ death “tragic and heartbreaking.”

“Two of my Office’s most experienced public safety attorneys meticulously combed through investigative reports, autopsies, hours and hours of video, deposition transcripts, and other evidence to make an informed decision about charges in this case,” he said. “Consistent with what the previous administration, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Justice found in their reviews of this case, my Office determined that there isn’t enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt first or second degree murder in this case.”

A civil suit stemming from Sanders’ death remains pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

Sam Wendt of the Wendt Law Firm in Kansas City is representing Sanders’ mother, Quinta Sanders, in the suit.

“We are obviously disappointed by the attorney general’s decision to not pursue criminal charges against Cory Hutcheson and the other law enforcement officers who were involved in the incident,” he said. “I do understand at this point, due to the statute of limitations, the only charges would be first- or second-degree murder, and in criminal charges, the burden of proof is higher than in civil cases.”

He said he suspects if there were video of the jail incident, like in Floyd’s case, there might be a different outcome.