Family members want $20 million from the city of Memphis, Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW), and the Memphis Police Department (MPD) for the 2020 beating death of a man by an MLGW employee.
In September 2020, MLGW employee Earnest Cartwright was working on a Whitehaven home when he found J.C. Payne inside his work truck, the suit says. MPD reported at the time that, when Payne was discovered, he struck Cartwright in the face and a struggle between the two ensued.
Court papers say when MPD arrived on the scene, they found Cartwright “on top of and severely beating” Payne, who was “unarmed, unconscious, and totally incapacitated on the ground.” Cartwright told police he beat Payne with his radio and “several hard objects.” Lawyers say Cartwright continued to beat Payne after he lost consciousness. Officers on the scene had no probable cause that Payne had committed any crime, the lawsuit says.
Payne was lying on his back with multiple cuts on his face, head, and body, and broken bones in his face, and broken teeth, lawyers say. He was incapacitated, unable to care for himself, and unable to communicate with officers to tell his side of the story.
Payne was lying on his back with multiple cuts on his face, head, and body, and broken bones in his face, and broken teeth.
Police officers rolled Payne on his stomach and handcuffed his wrists behind his back. His face was on the ground and he never moved his head, the suit states. Payne remained in this position “for an extensive amount of time,” a claim lawyers say is supported by police body camera footage.
MPD said at the time that officers called for an ambulance for both Payne and Cartwright “due to injuries that occurred during the struggle.” Cartwright was sent to Baptist East Memorial Hospital in non-critical condition. Payne was sent to Methodist South Hospital in critical condition. There, he was pronounced dead. At the time, no cause of Payne’s death was determined.
His death was ruled a homicide in April by Dr. Juliette B. Scantlebury, a pathologist for the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center, the lawsuit says. Scantlebury said Payne died as a result of blunt force head trauma complicated by probable suffocation.
Susan Sims, of Southaven, sued the city, MLGW, MPD, and Cartwright in federal court a year after Payne’s beating on behalf of Payne’s three children. The suit alleges Cartwright is guilty of assault and battery and excessive force. The other agencies are guilty of not having proper policies, training, or supervision “to handle such situations as the one encountered with J.C. Payne.”
Three MPD officers were, apparently, on the scene. Though, court papers only identify them as John Doe/Jane Doe 1, 2, and 3. Those officers are accused of using excessive force. The lawsuit says that they knew “to a moral certainty” that rolling Payne over and cuffing him “were likely to cause severe injury or death.” Doing so “killed” Payne and violated his constitutional rights, the suit says.
For the officers’ actions, the suit lays much of the blame on the city of Memphis and MPD.
“[The city and MPD] has created an environment within the police department where officers believe that they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, to whoever they want.”
“By failing to provide proper training and counseling for its officers, and by failing to conduct appropriate investigations and implement appropriate disciplinary action in situations where its officers violate the civil rights of its citizens, [the city and MPD] has created an environment within the police department where officers believe that they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, to whoever they want, irrespective of the United States Constitution,” the suit says.
For all of this, Sims is seeking a jury trial, $10 million in compensatory damages, $10 million in punitive damages, all court costs, and attorney fees. No trial date has been set.
