On the humid evening of July 8, 2015, in Stonewall, Mississippi, 39-year-old Jonathan Sanders was riding his horse and buggy to exercise his mare, Diva, when a brief verbal exchange with a part-time white officer, Kevin Herrington, escalated. Witnesses and family lawyers say Herrington pursued Sanders, turned on his patrol car’s blue lights, and startled the horse, which reared and threw Sanders from the buggy. Witnesses say Herrington then approached from behind, placed Sanders in a chokehold for what some described as 20 to 30 minutes, and that Sanders repeatedly said he could not breathe. A witness with CPR training reportedly offered assistance but was allegedly prevented from helping; Sanders died at the scene.

A preliminary autopsy concluded the cause of death was homicide by manual asphyxiation. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and the FBI investigated. In January 2016 a Clarke County grand jury declined to indict Herrington, finding Sanders’ death resulted from manual asphyxia associated with acute cocaine toxicity and deeming the officer’s actions justified. Family members and civil rights advocates said many questions remained unanswered.

If anyone knew Jonathan Sanders, his routines, or was near the Cefco station that night, please share any information that could clarify what happened.