Sheriff places officer on leave as video shows kicking
Coroner Jeremiah Howard told Mississippi Today that an autopsy determined 18-year-old Mielun Butler was stomped to death at the Hinds County Detention Center in Raymond. Howard said the teenager’s body showed marks consistent with shoe prints.
“It appeared he had shoe prints all over his head,” Howard said.
Butler had been booked into the jail on July 1 after his arrest in connection with a killing at a south Jackson apartment complex. By the morning of July 3, a video circulating on social media showed an unidentified person repeatedly kicking Butler while he lay on the floor, limp and bloodied.
At a Monday press conference, Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones confirmed the authenticity of the video. Jones told Mississippi Today on Thursday that he placed a detention officer on administrative leave with pay earlier this week. He said he would not disclose the officer’s name because the incident is under investigation.
The Hinds County Detention Center has operated under a court-appointed federal receiver since October. Jones ceded operational control of the jail to Wendell France, a court-appointed federal receiver. U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves, who oversees the federal court case related to conditions at the jail, has scheduled a hearing for Friday to discuss conditions there.