The FBI is part of the ongoing investigation into the January death of a Walker County Jail inmate, authorities confirmed Thursday.
Anthony “Tony” Mitchell, 33, died Jan. 26 at Walker Baptist Medical Center, just over two weeks after he was arrested on charges that he fired on Walker County deputies as they responded to a welfare check requested by his family. Lawyers for Mitchell’s mother have filed a lawsuit, claiming that jail deputies tased Mitchell and locked him in a freezer.
Anthony “Tony” Mitchell (Facebook-Justice for Tony Mitchell)
Mitchell had a history of methamphetamine addiction. When deputies arrived at the scene, they said he pulled a handgun on fired on them and then fled into nearby woods. SWAT officers, Alabama Department of Corrections tracking dogs and a helicopter were deployed to the scene. He was found hiding in a metal out building. Officers used a flash bang – a distraction device – to make entry into the building.
He was taken into custody. Authorities said he had covered himself in black spray paint.
According to the lawsuit, Mitchell had lived with his father in Carbon Hill. He spiraled out of control in the months after his father’s death months ago, taking drugs and experiencing mental health problems.
He lost about 100 pounds in three months. He looked so “haggard and emaciated, that his cousin, Steve, said he almost didn’t recognize him when he showed up at his house.
“Obviously delusional, Tony told Steve that he, Tony, had a brother who had been stillborn, which was true. Tony further told Steve that his parents had put the baby brother’s body in a box that was hidden in the attic of the house.” This was not correct, according to the complaint.
Mitchell said he needed to rip out a wall in the attic to find his baby brother’s body, according to the family’s suit. He said there were two portals in the house, one to heaven and another to hell. He wanted to put his brother in the portal to heaven…