The Colbert County Sheriff’s Office in Alabama is asking the FBI to investigate a case involving a black man whose body was found hanging in an abandoned home, amid claims by his wife that his death appeared to be a suicide.
The sheriff’s office requested FBI involvement in the death of 39-year-old Denoriss Richardson, whose body was found in September, according to The Associated Press.
The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News on Saturday. The FBI said it was aware of the death but would neither confirm nor deny whether it was participating in an investigation.
“The FBI is aware of the tragic death of Denoriss Richardson and takes allegations of violations of federal law seriously,” the FBI said in a statement. “The FBI evaluates allegations of criminal conduct on its merits and conducts further investigations if there is evidence of a possible violation of federal law.”
Richardson was found hanging from a rope in a Colbert County home on September 28. The sheriff’s office ruled his death a suicide, the AP reported.
But his wife, Leigh Ann Richardson, is not convinced he died by suicide and tells AL.com she is demanding answers.
“This is made to look like suicide. It is not suicide,” she told the news site.
She said her husband filed a federal lawsuit in February against police in Sheffield, where they live, accusing them of participating in abuse while he was being held at the Sheffield City Jail in 2022. The final filing in the federal case was a motion for alternate parties involving the wife of Dennoriss Richardson.
An attorney for the sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Colbert County Sheriff Eric Balentine said, according to AL.com, that police spoke with other family members of Dennoriss Richardson, who said he was depressed.
“The district attorney’s office ordered an autopsy. The body was sent to the Department of Forensic Sciences in Huntsville. The cause of death was suicide,” Balentine said.
The AP reported that Sheriff Balentine confirmed that the FBI accepted his request to investigate the matter, saying his department had “exhausted all resources” in its investigation.
Leigh Ann told AL.com that her husband, who was out on bail on a drug charge at the time of death, had given his son some of his jewelry because he was returning to prison to serve a sentence.
“He wasn’t depressed,” she said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
