The mother of Jared Padgett filed a $150 million federal civil rights lawsuit April 1 alleging Simpson County deputies repeatedly used a Taser on Padgett and then fatally shot him, according to court papers filed in U.S. District Court in Jackson.
The lawsuit says Padgett, 34, had been hallucinating when his family called 911 in September 2023 so he could receive medical care. His mother, Beverly Padgett, told Mississippi Today that a toxicology report showed he had used crystal meth. Family members told the lawsuit deputies refused to take him to a hospital because he had not been charged with a crime.
The complaint says deputies ordered Padgett to the ground, that he knelt with his hands behind his head and begged officers not to shoot, and that deputies shocked him at least 16 times in about 10 minutes. Taser logs obtained by Mississippi Today and The New York Times show deputies fired the devices 17 times, the lawsuit says. Padgett’s brother, Jacob, told the lawsuit Padgett later was seen kneeling in the road covered in blood.
A news release from the Simpson County Sheriff’s Department said Padgett climbed into a patrol car and drove away, and that Deputy Jason Runnels chased him to a nearby gas station and fatally shot him as he opened the car door holding a deputy’s rifle. The lawsuit alleges deputies left Padgett unattended in a patrol car with keys in the ignition and an unsecured AR-15, then failed to render medical aid after the shooting. At least two witnesses told investigators Padgett was not threatening and had laid the rifle on the ground, the complaint says.
The suit quotes Runnels as telling an investigator that Padgett “appeared to be attempting to load it” when Runnels fired multiple times. The lawsuit also says Runnels was never placed on administrative leave and that, while working previously in Smith County, he was involved in a fatal crash that killed a child “while operating a vehicle at an obscene rate of speed,” yet faced no criminal or disciplinary consequences. Runnels could not be reached for comment. Simpson County Sheriff Paul Mullins declined to comment and would not release the incident report, and the county attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
The complaint says the case was referred to the state attorney general but that the family has received little information about any investigation. Beverly Padgett told Mississippi Today she has repeatedly asked officials for answers, said she has not received a copy of her son’s autopsy and called for the truth and closure: “That was my son that I love. Why did y’all do that?” she said. “Money can’t bring him back, but I want the truth exposed.”
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
