Mentally ill man’s death ruled homicide, FBI investigates police beating claims

Published 8:52 pm Thursday, February 21, 2019

The Jackson Police Department and the FBI are investigating after an encounter with police officers on Valentine’s Day left a man on life support for days before he died.

City of Jackson spokeswoman Candice Cole says officers involved with the arrest of 31-year-old Mario Clark have been placed on administrative leave, per department policy.

News outlets report Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham-Stewart says Clark’s autopsy was completed Thursday and his death has been ruled a homicide. Grisham-Stewart says the state medical examiner found internal injuries that are consistent with strangulation and suffocation.

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The encounter occurred when Clark’s mother, Sheila Ragland, called 911 because he was having a psychotic episode. She says her son was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when he was a teen.