Police officer accused of shooting 11-year-old, now accused of tasing and choking a man who was detained in handcuffs

INDIANOLA, Miss. (WLBT) - The Indianola police officer accused of shooting an unarmed 11-year-old boy is now at the center of another federal lawsuit.

This latest lawsuit accuses Officer Greg Capers of tasing and choking Kelvin Franklin of Sunflower County while he was in handcuffs.

“Greg Capers did not care,” said Moore. “This man is a very cruel and inhumane person, and he needs to be off of the police force totally.”

Moore said this all started when Franklin, who’s a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army, went to his then fiancé's house in Indianola last December. Franklin left his bag in a car, but when he went to go get it, that’s when the commotion started.

”I believe one of her cousins was parked in the driveway, so he asked the cousin to move,” said Moore. “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.”

Moore said Capers responded to the scene. After telling police he had a gun, Franklin was then put in handcuffs. According to Moore and the lawsuit, Capers pointed a gun at Franklin’s head, who then asked the officer, “Why would you want to shoot me? I haven’t done anything for you to shoot me.”

After putting his gun back in the holster, the lawsuit states, “Defendant Officer Capers tased him three to four times on the false pretense of resisting arrest, despite Mr. Franklin already being detained. Capers also choked Plaintiff while he was detained in handcuffs.

”Now, Moore and Franklin are asking for at least $500,000 in damages. ”The city and the chief have been complicit in Greg Capers running wild and running rampant in the city of Indianola, so they are going to have to pay the piper. They’re going to have to pay the piper dearly,” Moore expressed.

This marks the second lawsuit filed against Capers, who’s also accused of shooting 11-year-old Aderrien Murry back in May. Murry has since recovered from his injuries, and Capers has been suspended from the department.

Moore believes had city leaders and the police chief disciplined Capers for the December incident, the shooting with Murry would have never happened.

“The city of Indianola had foreknowledge that Capers was a present threat to society, to the citizens of Indianola, and they allowed him to fester and keep his job as a police officer,” said Moore.

Moore said this incident has caused physical and emotional damage to his client.

“He did seek medical treatment after he was tased and assaulted by Greg Capers in December,” Moore explained. “He only had one kidney from the start of this incident, so he was tased and in excruciating pain. He had even announced to Greg Capers that he only had one kidney before he tased him, but Greg Capers did not care.”

Five unnamed officers, along with the city and police chief Ronald Sampson, are also being sued.

We reached out to the mayor and police chief for comment. We are still waiting to hear back.

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