"The mother of a 17-year-old boy has filed a federal lawsuit against the Huntsville Police Department claiming that officers killed the boy by tackling him to the ground, breaking his ribs, pepper-spraying him, and shoving a sharp object down his throat.
In March, the boy's mother, Nancy Smith, filed the claim for assault and battery, wrongful death and excessive force.
The young man, whose first name is not mentioned in the lawsuit, was allegedly set up in a drug bust. When plainclothes officers -- who did not identify themselves as officers -- approached Smith, he fled."* The Young Turks hosts Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian break it down.
Teen Dead After Alabama Police Cut Throat Open To Retrieve Drugs
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HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) -
A mother claims her 17-year-old son died at the hands of Huntsville Police. Nancy Smith filed a federal lawsuit in March claiming assault and battery, wrongful death and excessive force among other things.
In the suit, Smith alleges her family has not been interviewed by Huntsville Police and that she had been refused a copy of her son’s autopsy report.
The cause of death was ruled undetermined, according to an autopsy performed by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences. The autopsy report stated the findings included blunt force injuries and anoxic/hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, which is when the brain does not receive enough oxygen.
The lawsuit claims Smith’s son was set up in a drug sting by Huntsville Police using an 18-year-old confidential informant. The lawsuit states that at some point an officer in plain clothes ran towards Smith’s son without identifying themselves. According to the court documents Smith son ran. The documents went on to say an officer threw him to the ground, cuffed him and pepper-sprayed him. The autopsy report also stated the teenager’s neck was restrained.
The lawsuit claims police told paramedics the 17-year-old swallowed a bag of drugs. Smith and her lawyers contend a bag of drugs was never found in his stomach. The autopsy report also does not indicate anything unusual found in the teen’s stomach.
In an effort to retrieve the alleged bag, the lawsuit claims police had to shove a sharp object into the teen’s throat.
The autopsy report stated Smith's son was about six feet tall and weighed about 150 pounds.
The Huntsville Police Department and the Huntsville city attorney have not commented on the case.
