WEDDLE
By Caleb Bedillion
Daily Journal
TUPELO – Fragmentary access to the investigative and medical records of Antwun “Ronnie” Shumpert’s June shooting death cast doubt on at least some claims made in a wrongful death suit.
These records include photos of Shumpert taken by law enforcement after he was shot by Tupelo police officer Tyler Cook as well as second hand accounts of medical records that inventory Shumpert’s injuries.
More extensive access to investigative records could help sort out the facts of the case and provide clarity in the midst of competing claims about Shumpert’s death. However, such access is likely to be delayed.
A little over six weeks after the June 18 shooting, a grand jury was convened and found no cause to indict Cook for criminal conduct connected to his killing of Shumpert.
Cook has told authorities he acted in self-defense, and according to District Attorney John Weddle, physical evidence supports that claim.
The Shumpert family continues to press a wrongful death suit against the city, however, demanding at least $35 million in damages. That suit claims Shumpert was brutally attacked and killed while he tried to surrender himself to law enforcement.
A federal review of the probe conducted by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation remains ongoing. That means it could take some time before the MBI report and autopsy findings are openly released.
While limited, the evidence that has found its way into the public eye does seem to provide some insight into the disputed events of June 18.
Photographs examined
Grenada attorney Carlos Moore represents the Shumpert family. To support his claims that Cook’s police dog brutally mauled Shumpert, Moore has released multiple photos of Shumpert’s body.
According to Moore, these photographs were taken after Shumpert’s body arrived at a local family home.
One photo depicts long parallel cuts down the length of Shumpert’s back. Moore has repeatedly described these cuts as the results of the police dog attack.
In his initial filing of a civil suit, Moore wrote, the “K9 also severely clawed Shumpert on his back and inflicted other injuries and bruises to the person of Antwun Shumpert.”
MOORE
At some point after he was shot in a backyard on Harrison Street but before he was transported to North Mississippi Medical Center, Tupelo police began to photograph Shumpert and the scene.
Following his Aug. 1 press conference discussing the grand jury decision, the district attorney attorney showed some photographs to local news media but did not allow any reproductions of those photos.
When asked by the Daily Journal last week, the city of Tupelo declined to release these photographs, citing their subject matter.
Mayor Jason Shelton, however, did allow the Daily Journal to see these photographs.
Shumpert is shown in the photos laying on the ground with no shirt on. In photos where his back is visible, no wounds or scratches are apparent.
The district attorney claims the wounds shown in the photos released by Moore occurred during the autopsy.
In early July, the Daily Journal specifically asked Moore whether the wounds on the back were the result of an autopsy.
The attorney discounted that possibility.
“My forensic pathologist, my medical examiner expert tells me it is consistent with a canine scratch to the back,” Moore said.
However, it’s not clear if that is what the medical examiner in question told Moore.
Medical records glimpsed
On July 6, Moore released an analysis he commissioned by Dr. Roger A. Mitchell, chief medical examiner for the city of Washington, D.C.
Mitchell’s evaluation reports it was based on review of Shumpert’s hospital records.
Based on comments by Moore, these hospital records are those of Shumpert’s emergency treatment at North Mississippi Medical Center prior to his death.
Though he has directly released those hospital records to at least one national media outlet, Moore has declined requests by the Daily Journal and other local media for those records.
Mitchell also apparently had access to the photographs of Shumpert’s body that were taken at a funeral home.
In the document released by Moore, Mitchell wrote, “The findings documented by hospital records are consistent with an altercation with another person and a canine.”
However, in another portion of his written report Mitchell summarizes Shumpert’s wounds as detailed by medical records.
According to Mitchell, “The Hospital Records documents [sic] the presence of multiple gunshot wounds of the torso, blunt force trauma of the face, and a large gaping wound of the left groin.”
If Mitchell comprehensively and accurately summarized the hospital records, then those records appear to corroborate photographic evidence that Shumpert had no injuries to his back prior to the autopsy.
Mouth injury examined
The most startling and graphic photo released by Moore is of Shumpert’s mouth. In the photo, the front lower teeth all appear dislodged and broken away from the jaw.
Moore wrote in a civil suit filing, “Cook also punched Shumpert in his face and kicked or stomped Shumpert in the mouth knocking four of his bottom teeth back towards his throat.”
Among the photos made available by Weddle and the city of Tupelo, one shows Shumpert with his mouth partially open.
In this photo, his lower teeth appear unharmed and intact, though Shumpert’s lower lip obscures the gum line.
Mitchell’s evaluation of the medical records is also silent about a significant teeth injury.
He wrote, “Hospital records describes [sic] a 2 centimeter laceration of the right side of the face under the eye and bruised gums of the lower mouth.”
Though “bruised gums” seems to fall short of the mouth injuries alleged by Moore, Mitchell does not definitively address the issue beyond the above sentence.
More detailed and extensive photographs taken as part of the autopsy will presumably provide more clarity to this matter if they are ever released.
In his Aug. 1 press conference, Weddle acknowledged that the state’s autopsy noted some injuries to the mouth. However, he did not clearly describe the nature or extent of these injuries.
“Mr. Shumpert did receive some blunt force trauma to the face, including to the lower mouth resulting in some damage to the lip and the teeth,” Weddle said. “The cause of this injury would be speculative at this point.”
Weddle was asked to clarify his statement last week.
“To the best of my recollection, there was no indication in the autopsy that the teeth were dislodged,” said Weddle by text message.
At the time, Weddle was out of town and did not have access to the case files.
Questions continue
Last week, Moore wouldn’t directly answer questions about his past claims regarding injuries to Shumpert’s back and mouth.
Instead he reiterated the family’s position that Shumpert was “beaten and killed by Tyler Cook and that K9 Alec was an accomplice in the aggravated assault and/or homicide.”
The attorney said he has not yet received a copy of the MBI report or autopsy report.
“The family will ultimately rely on the opinions of its experts as well as testimony of witnesses as to what transpired during the fatal last moments of Ronnie’s life,” he said.
A status hearing is scheduled for late September in the civil suit Moore has filed. That hearing will allow the parties to discuss details related to the future of the case, including how long a trial might take if one occurs.
Judge Glen H. Davidson has recused himself from he case, and District Judge Sharion Aycock will preside.
caleb.bedillion@journalinc.com
Twitter: @CalebBedillion