2 autopsies for Black man found hanging in Alabama produce differing conclusions

A state autopsy determined that the Black man found hanging in an abandoned Alabama home died by suicide, according to the local sheriff. That is in conflict with a private autopsy commissioned by the man's family that was inconclusive about his manner of death. Sheriff’s deputies found Dennoriss Richardson in late September in a rural part of Colbert County, Alabama, miles away from his home. The private autopsy conducted by forensic pathologist Dr. Adel Shaker affirmed the state’s findings that that Dennoriss Richardson died from hanging, but did not conclude whether the hanging was a suicide or homicide.