The Indianola police officer accused of shooting an 11-year-old boy is once again facing scrutiny, this time for allegedly tasing and choking an active military member while in handcuffs.
Officer Greg Capers with the Indianola Police Department is now the subject of two federal lawsuits after an attorney for Kelvin Franklin filed litigation on Aug. 28. According to the court filings, Franklin was at his fiancé’s house on Dec. 30, 2022, when he and her cousin got into a verbal altercation in the driveway before police were called.
“I believe one of her cousins was parked in the driveway, so he asked the cousin to move,” Franklin’s attorney, Carlos Moore, explained to Jackson TV station WLBT. “I think there may have been some words exchanged between him and the cousin of the then-fiancé, so the fiancé did not know what was about to happen, so she called the police out of an abundance of caution.”
Franklin, a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army, was then put into handcuffs after informing officers that he was carrying a firearm. Once handcuffed, Capers is said to have put a gun up to Franklin’s head with the latter responding, “Why would you want to shoot me? I haven’t done anything for you to shoot me.” That’s when Capers allegedly holstered his gun and tased Franklin “three to four times on the false pretense of resisting arrest, despite Mr. Franklin already being detained.”
Moore, who is seeking at least $500,000 for Franklin, is also representing 11-year-old Aderrien Murry after the child was shot by an officer believed to be Capers.
Around 4 a.m. on May 20, Nakala Murry asked her son to call the police because the father of one of her other children had showed up at the home unannounced. Moore explained to SuperTalk Mississippi News that upon arrival, Capers tried to kick in the door of the home before Nakala opened it and explained that the man had exited the back of the property.
Capers and another officer, both with guns drawn, then ordered all occupants to come out of the house with their hands in the air. As Aderrien rounded the corner into the living room, he was shot in the back by Capers, per Moore.
“[Aderrien] was shot by Greg Capers for simply following orders,” Moore said. “This guy is clearly bad with a gun. He’s a danger to society. He has to go.”
Murry, who said he once wanted to be a police officer when he grew up but now doesn’t, was able to recover from his injuries. His family is seeking $5 million in restitution from the city, although Moore noted that no monetary gains will make up for the trauma the child has from the incident.
Five unnamed officers are also named in the Franklin case, while Indianola Police Chief Ronald Sampson is listed in both.
