Glenn Foster Jr. Lawsuit Moves Forward on Excessive Force

The Glenn Foster Jr. lawsuit is moving forward. On December 5, 2024, U.S. District Judge Annemarie Carney Axon ruled that the family’s federal wrongful death case against former Pickens County, Alabama officials can proceed on its central claims of excessive force and failure to supervise, three years after the former New Orleans Saints defensive lineman died in the county jail.¹

Foster, 31, died on December 6, 2021, after three days in the custody of the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office. His widow, Pamela Foster, filed suit two years later in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump along with Ken Abbarno and Diandra “Fu” Debrosse of DiCello Levitt. The case is docketed as Anny Pamela Foster v. Pickens County, et al., No. 7:23-cv-01647-ACA.²

What the Complaint Alleges Happened in Custody

Foster was arrested on December 3, 2021, on charges of speeding and attempting to elude police. His family has said they believe he was experiencing a manic episode connected to his bipolar disorder.³ According to the complaint, EMS personnel at the scene recommended medical and mental health evaluations, but officers took Foster to the county jail instead.²

The lawsuit alleges that after Foster was booked, Reform Police Chief Richard Black contacted the family, learned of Foster’s mental health condition, and agreed he should be transferred to a hospital. That transfer did not happen. An EMS crew called to check on Foster later on December 4 again recommended immediate hospitalization, which the complaint says jail staff refused. Foster was re-booked on new charges of assault and third-degree robbery, which the family says were used to deny him bail.⁴

The complaint further alleges that a deputy and a corrections officer removed Foster from his cell, restrained him in a chair, and tased him repeatedly until he lost consciousness. On December 6, a judge ordered Foster transported to a Tuscaloosa medical facility for a mental health evaluation. The lawsuit alleges that jail administrator Justin White dragged Foster into the transport vehicle by his neck. Foster arrived at the hospital unresponsive and was pronounced dead about 30 minutes later.⁵

The family also alleges evidence problems. Sabrina Foster, Glenn’s mother, has said officials told the family body camera footage from the arrest was lost and Glenn’s personal belongings were destroyed. The federal complaint alleges cameras installed in the jail’s sally port existed but that defendants did not share that footage with the state investigator on the case.⁶

Who Was Sued and on What Claims

The suit names Pickens County, the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office, and the Pickens County Jail as governmental defendants, along with Sheriff Todd Hall, Chief Deputy Greg Carr, Lieutenant Drew Wilburn, jail administrator Justin White, Deputy Mickey Young, corrections officers LaDon Hill and DeMarco Easterwood, jail officer Willie Brown, and a transport driver identified as Mr. Richardson.⁶

The complaint brings claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment violations, including excessive force, negligent training and supervision with deliberate indifference, and substantive due process. It also asserts governmental liability under the Monell doctrine, arguing that Pickens County maintained an unwritten policy of using pain to compel inmate compliance, and adds state law claims for wrongful death and the tort of outrage.⁶

What the December 2024 Ruling Kept and Cut

Judge Axon’s ruling dismissed parts of eight counts. The tort of outrage and substantive due process claims were eliminated entirely, and former Chief Deputy Greg Carr was dismissed from the case.¹

The core survived. Claims of excessive force resulting in death under the Fourth Amendment and failure to supervise were allowed to proceed against former Sheriff Todd Hall, jail administrator Justin White, and other former deputies.⁵

No Criminal Charges Alongside the Civil Case

The civil lawsuit is proceeding without any parallel criminal prosecution. Pickens County officials told the family Foster died of natural causes tied to cardiovascular disease. An independent autopsy commissioned by the family and performed by Dr. Michael Baden, former Chief Medical Examiner of New York City, reached a different conclusion, finding that Foster did not die of natural causes and identifying “some evidence of neck compressions and strangulation.”⁷

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s State Bureau of Investigation looked into the death, with findings forwarded to Tuscaloosa County District Attorney Hays Webb.⁸ A grand jury heard evidence and returned no indictments. No criminal charges have been filed against any officer or jail employee involved in Foster’s custody.²

Where the Case Stands

As of the most recent available information, no trial date has been set and no settlement has been reported. The suit is one of three in-custody deaths at the Pickens County jail identified in a local news investigation covering less than a year around Foster’s death.⁹

Foster’s family has kept the case in public view. On February 9, 2025, hours before Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, his parents held a two-hour rally outside the Hale Boggs Federal Building, about a mile from the Caesars Superdome, calling on the NFL and the Saints to acknowledge the death.¹⁰ Neither the Saints nor the NFL has publicly responded. Ben Crump has separately called for a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office.¹¹

1
WBRC. Federal Judge Rules Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Former Pickens Co. Sheriff Can Move Forward
2
ESPN. Ex-Saints Glenn Foster Jr. Family Sues Police in Wrongful Death
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CNN. Alabama Death in Police Custody, Pickens County
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NOLA.com. Lawsuit Says Saints Player Glenn Foster Was Tortured in Jail
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ABC 33/40. Glenn Foster Jr. Wrongful Death Lawsuit, Excessive Force Investigation
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WWLTV. Foster v. Pickens County Complaint
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NBC News. Autopsy of Former NFL Player Glenn Foster Suggests Evidence of Strangulation
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Tuscaloosa Thread. Glenn Foster Death Full Story
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WCBI. Investigation Underway After Inmate Died in Pickens Co. Jail
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WWNO. Glenn Foster Jr.’s Family Use Super Bowl to Bring Awareness to His Death, Demand Justice
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MPB Online. Glenn Foster Jr.’s Family Uses Super Bowl to Bring Awareness to His Death, Demand Justice