The Mississippi Court of Appeals has reversed a judge鈥檚 ruling that Rankin County deputies bore no blame for the 2021 death of Damien Cameron after witnesses said one deputy sat on Cameron鈥檚 back while another kneeled on his neck.
In a ruling Tuesday, the appeals court revived the civil lawsuit and sent it back to Rankin County Circuit Court.
鈥淲e find there are genuine issues of material fact whether the deputies鈥� actions were objectively reasonable and entitled them to qualified immunity,鈥� Appeals Court Judge Donna Barnes wrote.
She concluded that 鈥渢here is clearly established law that applying pressure or body-weight force to a prone suspect could constitute excessive force under certain circumstances.鈥�
In 2022, State Medical Examiner Dr. Staci Turner ruled Cameron鈥檚 death 鈥渦ndetermined,鈥� but three pathologists who examined records in the case told Mississippi Today and The New York Times that his death should have been ruled a homicide.
Cameron was one of at least nine men who have died during episodes involving Rankin County deputies since 2014, according to sheriff鈥檚 department records and Mississippi Bureau of Investigation reports.
Five deputies and a local police officer are now in prison for their 2023 torture of two Black men, Eddie Parker and Michael Jenkins, that culminated with Deputy Hunter Elward jamming his pistol into Jenkins鈥� mouth and firing it. The blast lacerated his tongue, shattered his jaw and missed his spine.
Elward and the other officers, who are all white, concealed their crimes by planting a gun and drugs on their victims, disposing of security camera footage and falsifying sheriff鈥檚 reports, according to an investigation by the Justice Department. All of the officers in the so-called 鈥淕oon Squad鈥� case are now serving between 10 and 40 years in prison.
Elward, who is serving 20 years, also pleaded guilty in connection with deputies beating a handcuffed suspect.
Reported vandalism turns deadly
On July 26, 2021, after a report of someone breaking into a Braxton house and ripping holes in the wall, Deputy Elward told Mississippi Bureau of Investigation agents that the owner identified the culprit as Cameron.
Elward headed for Cameron鈥檚 home, and when he arrived, he spoke with Cameron鈥檚 mother, Monica Lee. She said she told Elward that her son would run because he was paranoid, suffering from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. She quoted herself as telling the deputy, 鈥淒on鈥檛 hurt my son.鈥�
Cameron ran after he saw Elward. The deputy fired his Taser and tackled Cameron.
Elward said Cameron then picked him up on his back and took him inside the house, where the two battled. Elward said he eventually sat on Cameron鈥檚 back.
鈥淗e started swinging at me again, and all I was doing was just basically blocking it,鈥� Elward said. After this, he punched Cameron three times in the face, according to his sheriff鈥檚 report.
Elward continued to sit on Cameron鈥檚 back until Deputy Luke Stickman arrived and helped handcuff Cameron.
Cameron鈥檚 grandmother, Betty Cameron, told Mississippi Today that one deputy was on Cameron鈥檚 neck and another deputy was on his back. 鈥淗e kept saying he couldn鈥檛 breathe,鈥� she said.
Cameron鈥檚 grandfather, James Cameron, told MBI investigators that a deputy knelt on his grandson鈥檚 neck. 鈥淚 was so shook up,鈥� he said.
He quoted his grandson as saying, 鈥淚 can鈥檛 breathe, sir, let me up. I can鈥檛 breathe. Please let me up.鈥�
Damien Cameron鈥檚 mother, Lee, said her son asked for water. 鈥淗e kept telling them he couldn鈥檛 breathe, he couldn鈥檛 breathe.鈥�
Elward acknowledged that Cameron said he couldn鈥檛 breathe, but he thought he was simply out of breath, like he was.
The deputies handcuffed Cameron and took him to the car. Both Elward and Stickman told MBI that Cameron was walking until they got outside.
After they opened the front door, 鈥渉e collapsed to the ground,鈥� Elward told investigators. 鈥淗e wouldn鈥檛 move on his own accord. We had to move him ourselves.鈥�
Lee told Mississippi Today that her son 鈥渇ell face down in the mud. They left him there awhile.鈥�
Deputies tried a half dozen times to get Cameron in the back seat, Elward said, 鈥渂ut from the rain and the mud, and his strong resistance, he would wiggle his way back to the ground.鈥�
They were finally able to get Cameron in the patrol vehicle, he said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 laid completely across the backseat of the vehicle. I tried to get him to physically bend his legs to get his knee to bend to where I could shut the door.鈥�
Every time he tried, Elward said, Cameron would 鈥渟tart kicking the window. He wouldn鈥檛 let the door shut.鈥�
Photographs taken inside Elward鈥檚 patrol vehicle show a muddy footprint on the arm rest, but no muddy marks appear above that.
Elward said because Cameron continued to resist, he used Stickman鈥檚 Taser on Cameron. Logs reflect that the Taser was used three times. 鈥淗e pulled his legs in, allowing me to shut the door,鈥� Elward wrote.
After the deputies went inside, they talked for some time with Lee about having her son committed for mental help. When they returned to the patrol car, they said, they found Cameron unresponsive. They began CPR until the ambulance arrived.
At the hospital, he was declared dead. His face was bloody and swollen almost beyond recognition from his struggle with deputies.
The state medical examiner found meth in Cameron鈥檚 system and concluded he had suffered 鈥渕ultiple subcutaneous and soft tissue hemorrhages.鈥� She ruled the cause and manner of death 鈥渦ndetermined.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 heartbreaking because I鈥檝e been dealing with this for five years,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 heavy on me because there鈥檚 no justice.鈥�
Judges hear about Cameron鈥檚 death
In 2022, Cameron鈥檚 family sued, and a Rankin County circuit judge dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that the deputies had sovereign immunity.
The family appealed, and the appeals court heard arguments in the case Nov. 12.
The lawyer for Cameron鈥檚 family, Trent Walker of Jackson, told the judges that hemorrhaging found in Cameron鈥檚 neck was consistent with Stickman 鈥減utting a knee on his neck in such a way to choke him.鈥� That, he said, violates the sheriff鈥檚 written policy, which bars anything that restricts a person鈥檚 breathing.
Cameron was unarmed and wasn鈥檛 trying to harm deputies, Walker said. 鈥淭he penalty for noncompliance shouldn鈥檛 be the death penalty.鈥�
Ridgeland lawyer Jason Dare, who represents the sheriff鈥檚 department, told the judges that Cameron鈥檚 death appears to be an overdose.
Walker said Tuesday, 鈥淲e鈥檙e happy we鈥檙e able to get Ms. Lee her day in court so that she can get justice for her son. Material facts need to be heard, and we鈥檙e looking forward to the fight.鈥�
Dare could not be reached Tuesday for comment.
In a dissent in the appeals court ruling, Judge Amy Lassitter St. P茅 wrote that the Rankin County judge鈥檚 decision should be affirmed. The record, she wrote, 鈥渄oes not support a finding that Deputies Elward or Stickman used excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment.鈥�
Tuesday鈥檚 ruling may not mean the end of litigation. The sheriff鈥檚 department can request a rehearing in the case, and if that is denied, the department can appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court.
After learning of the decision, Lee said she was smiling. 鈥淚 feel a little bit better that maybe we can get justice for my son.鈥�
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