Fuqua v. Morgan County Jail et al

On August 14, 2025, David Fuqua, a 29-year-old pretrial detainee at Morgan County Jail, Alabama, died after a violent confrontation with correctional staff. Fuqua was reportedly experiencing a psychiatric episode when officers Michael Dobbs and Sarah Kemp deployed pepper spray, struck him with batons, and applied a prolonged prone restraint. Medical staff, including Nurse Rebecca Tillman, allegedly delayed treatment as Fuqua showed signs of asphyxiation. The Estate of David Fuqua, joined by his mother Linda Fuqua, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the jail, the county commission, Sheriff Thomas Clay, and involved officers, alleging excessive force, deliberate indifference to serious medical needs, and unconstitutional conditions of confinement. The case challenges systemic failures in managing mental health crises.

As of mid-2026, the case is in active discovery before Judge R. David Proctor. A parallel state criminal investigation into the officers’ conduct concluded without charges in December 2025. The defendants have moved for summary judgment, arguing qualified immunity, but the court has not yet ruled. Trial is tentatively set for early 2027.

Whether the force used against Fuqua was unconstitutionally excessive under the Fourteenth Amendment; whether the officers and medical staff acted with deliberate indifference to Fuqua’s medical needs after the restraint; and whether Morgan County’s policies, training, and supervision practices demonstrated deliberate indifference to the rights of detainees with mental illness.

The death of David Fuqua has become a flashpoint for jail reform advocates in the Deep South, sparking protests in Decatur and a statewide campaign to ban prone restraint techniques. The case has also prompted the Morgan County Commission to approve funding for a new mental health diversion unit and is frequently cited in legislative hearings on inmate safety and oversight of county jails.