Six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges for torturing two Black men will be sentenced Wednesday in state court. The white former officers attacked Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker in January 2023 and have already been sentenced to federal prison terms ranging from about 10 to 40 years.
In March, U.S. District Judge Tom Lee called their actions “egregious and despicable” as he gave sentences near the top of the federal guidelines to five of the six men. Rankin County Circuit Judge Steve Ratcliff will sentence all six defendants on state charges Wednesday. They agreed to sentences recommended by state prosecutors ranging from five to 30 years.
The case drew outrage from top law enforcement officials in the country, including Attorney General Merrick Garland, who said the officers committed a “heinous attack on citizens they had sworn an oath to protect.” The defendants include five former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies and a former police officer from the city of Richland, who was off duty during the assault.
All six of the former officers pleaded guilty to state charges of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to hinder prosecution. The charges followed an Associated Press investigation in March that linked some of the officers to at least four violent encounters since 2019 that left two Black men dead.
The former lawmen admitted to breaking into a home without a warrant and torturing Jenkins and Parker in an hourslong attack that included beatings, repeated uses of stun guns, and assaults with a sex toy before one of the victims was shot in the mouth. The terror began on Jan. 24, 2023, with a racist call for extrajudicial violence, according to federal prosecutors.
Once inside, they handcuffed Jenkins and his friend Parker and poured milk, alcohol, and chocolate syrup over their faces while mocking them with racial slurs. They forced them to strip naked and shower together to conceal the mess. In a mock execution gone awry, one of the officers shot Jenkins in the mouth, lacerating his tongue and breaking his jaw. The officers devised a coverup and agreed to plant drugs on Jenkins and Parker. False charges stood against the men for months.
In federal court, the deputies expressed remorse for their behavior and apologized to Jenkins and Parker. Several of their attorneys said their clients became ensnared in a culture of corruption that was encouraged by leaders in the sheriff’s office. Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey revealed no details about his deputies’ actions when he announced they had been fired last June. Jenkins and Parker have called for his resignation and filed a $400 million civil lawsuit against the department.
