A $5-million federal lawsuit over the Indianola, Miss., police shooting of then-11-year-old Aderrien Murry will not proceed after a judge dismissed it on July 19, citing the fact that the boy’s mother did not allege that an Indianola officer intentionally shot him in the chest. Murry survived the shooting after a hospital stay.

The lawsuit named the City of Indianola, the Indianola Police Department, Indianola Police Officer Greg Capers, Indianola Police Chief Ronald Sampson and “John Does 1-5” as defendants.

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi Judge Debra M. Brown said in her ruling that the lawsuit failed to state claims of civil-rights violations, that Murry did not wait the required 90 days before filing the lawsuit and that the notice of lawsuit letter did not align with the requirements in the Mississippi Tort Claims Act. 

“Because Murry does not allege that Capers intentionally shot A.M., she fails to sufficiently state claims for Fourth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment violations based on excessive force, and Capers and Sampson are entitled to qualified immunity,” Judge Brown wrote.

The Murrys’ attorney Carlos Moore told the Mississippi Free Press on July 26 that they plan to file a motion to amend the complaint to allege that Capers intentionally shot Aderrien Murry.

Read Judge Debra M. Brown’s ruling dismissing the Murry family’s lawsuit.

Capers’ attorney Michael Carr predicted that the judge will dismiss the amended complaint because of the lack of evidence.

“They can amend their complaint in any form or manner that they want to as long as they have facts and evidence to support it. If they don’t, it’s going to be dismissed, and there’s no evidence that Greg Capers intentionally shot Aderrien Murry,” Carr told the Mississippi Free Press on July 26.

Brown wrote that she did not want either the Indianola Police Department nor the Murrys to release the video footage of Capers shooting Aderrien Murry to protect the privacy of the 11-year-old. The Murrys argued in the lawsuit that the public should be able to watch the footage because Aderrien Murry’s name and image are well-circulated in the media at this point. Moore told the Mississippi Free Press that this was a moot point because the Mississippi Department of Public Safety released the footage to the media when they requested it.

The Mississippi Free Press called the Indianola Police Department and the City of Indianola to get an interview about the lawsuit dismissal but did not get a response.

Carlos Moore filed a state lawsuit on behalf of the Murrys in the Sunflower County Circuit Court on May 20 against Greg Capers, Ronald Sampson, the City of Indianola, the Indianola Police Department, Dispatcher Jada Rush and “John Doe Officers 1-5.” That lawsuit is still pending litigation.

Greg Gapers in police uniform and cap
The Indianola Board of Aldermen voted to suspend Indianola Police Officer Greg Capers without pay after he shot 11-year-old Aderrien Murry in May 2023. He returned to work as a sergeant after a grand jury declined to indict him in December 2023. Photo courtesy Carlos Moore

Michael Carr said he believed a judge will also dismiss the state lawsuit for the same reasons Brown dismissed the federal lawsuit. Since the lawsuits have the same content but are filed separately in state and federal courts, Carr said the state court judge could dismiss the state lawsuit. Federal courts can hear both federal and state claims.

“We expect Miss Murry and her son to be successful in the lawsuit. Clearly he has done nothing wrong,” Moore told the Mississippi Free Press on July 26. “He did not deserve to be shot by Capers, and we do believe that the city will have to pay for what Capers did.”

The Indianola Board of Aldermen voted to suspend Capers without pay in May 2023. He returned to work as a sergeant after a grand jury declined to indict Capers on any criminal charges in December 2023.

State Reporter Heather Harrison has won more than a dozen awards for her multi-media journalism work. At Mississippi State University, she studied public relations and broadcast journalism, earning her Communication degree in 2023. For three years, Heather worked at The Reflector student newspaper: first as a staff reporter, then as the news editor and finally, as the editor-in-chief. This is where her passion for politics and government reporting began.
Heather started working at the Mississippi Free Press three days after graduation in 2023. She also worked part time for Starkville Daily News after college covering the Board of Aldermen meetings.
In her free time, Heather likes to sit on the porch, read books and listen to Taylor Swift. A native of Hazlehurst, she now lives in Brandon with her wife and their Boston Terrier, Finley, and calico cat, Ravioli.