Lawsuit claim: Joplin police officer beat, choked suicidal 15-year-old

A Joplin Police Department officer choked and beat a suicidal 15-year-old while four other officers watched, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

The lawsuit was filed by the 15-year-old, who is referred to as A. T, and Amanda Smith, the child's mother who are represented by Benjamin S. McIntosh of SWMW Law in St. Louis and Jared Stilley of the Stilley Law Firm, Joplin, who were also the attorneys in a federal lawsuit filed last week against former Joplin Police Department officers Seth Lugenbell and Kyle Fallis.

Listed as defendants in the case are officers Jeremiah McGough, Haley Perkins, Jeffery Flener, Taylor Petterson and Jocelyn Murphy.

From the petition:

On January 23, 2026, Joplin Police Officer Jeremiah McGough violated the United States Constitution when he used excessive force on AT, a fifteen-year-old child experiencing a mental health crisis. The Child called the police himself for help. But instead of receiving the “service and protection” that the Department says it provides, he was met with brute and repulsive force.

Defendant McGough punched the child in the back and hips and forcefully struck him repeatedly with his baton before he was handcuffed. But Defendant did not stop there, and proceeded to gratuitously torture a handcuffed child, as shown in the picture below:

After the Child was placed in handcuffs, Defendant McGough grabbed him by his

hair, picked his head up, and slammed it into the ground so hard that it sounded like someone had been slapped. 

Then he proceeded to choke the Child by placing both hands around his neck and squeezing tight, as shown in the photograph above. While choking the Child, Defendant McGough turned his face up towards his and said, “look at me.” The Child said “I can’t breathe” but that did not matter to Defendant McGough, who continued to choke him.

Body worn camera footage and police radio recordings capture the Child screaming in pain, pleading with officers to stop, saying “I can’t breathe,” and calling out to his grandmother who was forced to listen to the whole encounter on the phone.

The other Defendants were in the immediate vicinity of Defendant McGough when he brutalized the handcuffed Child. None of them intervened to stop him even though they knew that this use of force was clearly established as being unconstitutional.

s this what it looks like in Joplin, Missouri, when police officers hold the “highest regard for the dignity and liberty of all persons?" It appears clear that some officers don’t uphold those values at all. Defendant McGough remains a Detective for the Joplin Police Department even after this incident.

At the time of the incident, Plaintiff AT was at Suzanne’s Natural Foods located at 3106 S Connecticut Ave, Joplin, MO 64804. Plaintiff is a fifteen-year-old child, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of both Joplin, Missouri, and Venus, Texas.

Amanda Smith is Plaintiff’s mother, a United States citizen, and resident of Venus, Texas.

At all times relevant herein, Defendants McGough, Perkins, Flener, Petterson, and Murphy were working as a police officer for the City of Joplin, Missouri.

At all times relevant herein, Defendants were acting under color of the laws, statutes, ordinances, and regulations of the state of Missouri, Jasper County, Missouri, and the City of Joplin.

At the time of the incident described herein, Plaintiff AT was a fifteen-year-old child.

On January 23, 2026, the Child had posted a picture of himself with a girl on his Facebook account and had been texting with her. His father (hereinafter “Father”) had forbidden him from talking to girls because he did not believe that he was old enough to do so. So, Father tried to take his phone away from him as punishment and the two got into an argument. 

During the argument because the cell phone was purchased by his mother so the two could freely
communicate while the Child was not with his mother, and the Child told his Father that he wanted to commit suicide.

While arguing, the two almost got into a physical altercation but rather than fight, the Child left the home. The temperature was below freezing at the time.

As he was walking away from his house, the Child called 911 and told them that he wanted to harm himself, that he wanted help, and that he and Father had almost got into a fight. At the same time, Father called 911 to report that the Child had ran out of the home and was having suicidal ideations.

During the 911 call, the Child’s phone died. He walked into a nearby store, Suzanne’s Natural Foods, to charge it and called 911 again to let them know he was there.

Officer Zechariah Sipes and Defendant Officer Haley Perkins were dispatched.

Perkins was tasked to meet with the Child at Suzanne’s and Sipes was tasked with meeting Father at his apartment.

All of the following facts come from body worn camera footage of the officers that day.

When Officer Sipes arrived at Father’s apartment he spoke with him about what had happened. Father stated that: “He has some issues. You guys have been out here before because he tried to commit suicide. . . he has [attempted] suicide before.” 

Father showed Officer Sipes a recording of AT earlier that day stating that he wanted to kill himself and told Sipes that he called 911 because he wanted the Child to get psychiatric help.

Officer Sipes then left Father’s apartment with actual knowledge that this was a mental health crisis rather than a suspected criminal issue and began driving to Suzanne’s Natural Foods.

At the same time, Defendant Perkins arrived at Suzanne’s Natural Foods and met with the Child. The two briefly discussed what happened and Defendant Perkins noted that she had encountered him when he ran away from home in the past. The Child stated that he was going to go to his mother’s house in Texas, but Defendant Perkins told him that he could not do that and that instead she wanted to take him to the Juvenile Office.

Frustrated with this proposition, the Child walked away from Defendant Perkins and to the front of Suzanne’s Natural Foods.

As he exited the building, Officer Sipes arrived in his patrol car. The Child saw Sipes said, “I don’t like this” and walked back into the store.


Case 3:26-cv-05051-MDH Document 1 Filed 06/15/26 Page 5 of 2827. Officer Sipes exited his patrol vehicle and walked into the store. Once he entered, he began sprinting to the back patio where the Child was standing and talking to his grandmother on the phone.

Without saying anything, and knowing that this was a child in a mental health crisis rather that a suspected criminal, Officer Sipes charged the Child and grabbed him from behind. The Child instinctively reacted and the two ended up on the ground. 

Again, the Child was engaged in no criminal activity when Officer Sipes took these actions.

Defendant Perkins then walked to the back patio and upon seeing Officer Sipes on top of the Child, ran out to assist him. The Child can be heard shrieking in pain, crying, and saying “I can’t breathe.” The Child then got into a turtled-up position with his arms underneath him.

Moments later, another officer arrived on the scene. Determining that the situation was not urgent enough for him to assist Officers Sipes and Defendant Perkins, he began moving furniture around on the patio instead.

Then, Defendant McGough arrived on the scene. He walked through the store to the back patio where he saw Officer Sipes and Defendant Perkins atop of the Child. The Child was still in a turtled position, face and belly down with his arms underneath him. The Child was not struggling, and the Officers were not actively fighting with him. He was effectively subdued, and all that was left to do from the officers’ perspective was simply to put handcuffs on him (although any arrest would have been unreasonable in light of a lack of criminal activity).

Defendant McGough immediately mounted the child from behind despite two officers already being on top of him, sitting on his legs right underneath his bottom. Defendant McGough began punching the Child in the hip forcefully. 

At the same time, Defendant Officer Jocelyn Murphy arrived and joined in on holding the Child against the ground. At this point, there were four adult police officers holding the Child on the ground.

Defendant McGough then took out his metal baton and began driving its pointed end into the Child’s hip and lower back area with extreme force, causing excruciating pain and injuries to the Child that the Child still suffers from today.

Defendant McGough then gripped the metal baton with two hands, raised it above his head, and began slamming the pointed end into the Child’s hip and lower back area repeatedly. 

After he did this once, the Child screamed in pain, screamed “ok fine here, I tap,” and placed both of his hands behind his back.

At this point, Defendant McGough or one of the three other officers present could have readily handcuffed the Child. But Defendant McGough decided that one hit was not enough for him, and slammed the metal baton into the Child’s hip and lower back at least five more times. The Child was crying and screeching in pain. Only then did Defendant McGough handcuff the Child.

Now, the Child was laying flat on the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back and was not moving. He was fully subdued and restrained, not fighting, and not resisting even passively.

More officers had arrived and there were at least eleven officers on the scene at this point.

Then, Defendant Officer Petterson came behind the Child and grabbed him by both ankles, and he screamed “oww my ankle my ankle is hurt.” Defendant Petterson then crossed his legs, lifted them up, and pushed his feet towards his bottom. She was holding him in a hog-tied position. There was no reason for her to do this because the Child was laying flat on his stomach, fully subdued and restrained, not fighting, and not resisting.

As the child was laying on the ground, handcuffed, and crying that they were hurting his ankle, Defendant McGough said “we’re gonna hurt it more if you don’t stop.”

The Child continued to scream that his ankle was hurt and that she was causing him immense pain. Still, Defendant Petterson continued to hold him in that position for no legitimate reason.

At the same time, Defendant McGough kneeled down by the Child’s head and placed both hands under his jaw and around his neck. He then pulled his head back towards his bottom while Officer Petterson continued to push on his legs, further contorting his body.

The Child exclaimed “I can’t breathe” and, while still pulling his head back, McGough asked “are you done?” The Child still was offering no resistance.

Defendant Petterson then released the Child’s feet, and they rolled him onto his side. Defendant McGough released his throat but placed his hand on the Child’s head and face, driving it into the ground forcefully. The Child yelled “mamaw help!” to his grandmother who was still on the phone, listening to the harrowing encounter. The image below depicts McGough driving the Child’s case into the ground while handcuffed:

In response to the Child’s plea to his grandmother, Defendant McGough grabbed the Child’s hair, lifted his head, and slammed it into the ground so loudly that it could be heard on all other officers’ body worn camera footage. The Child screamed in pain.

Even through this torturous treatment, the Child did not resist or fight back. Nor could he, as he was handcuffed and fully subdued by four officers holding him against the ground.

Defendant McGough then gratuitously grabbed the Child’s neck with both hands and began choking him while he was handcuffed, subdued, and in no way resisting, as shown below:

While still choking him, McGough pushed the Child’s head back towards his bottom, turned his face towards his own, and demanded “look at me.”

Then Defendant McGough took one hand, still choking him with the other, placed it on his chin, and drove his head into the ground forcefully.

The Child pleaded with Defendant McGough, begging him to “please stop” through tears. But Defendant McGough still was not done brutalizing the restrained Child.

Defendant McGough continued choking him with one hand and then began tapping him in the face and eyeball with the other while saying “bad, quit it, bad” as though he was toying with him. From the body camera footage, it appears that McGough took sadistic pleasure in his awful and illegal actions, as shown from the image below:

The Child repeatedly stated that he could not breathe to which Defendant McGough replied, “yeah you can, you’re talking.”

After almost three minutes of force after the Child was handcuffed, Defendant McGough finally decided he had his fill of torturing the Child and let up.

In this entire three minutes of force, not one of the eleven officers on scene decided that “protecting the Rights of Joplin’s citizens” required stepping in and stopping Defendant McGough.

Every officer on the scene that day could hear the child screaming.

Defendants Perkins, Flener, Petterson, and Murphy were in the immediate vicinity while McGough was using this force and personally witnessed McGough’s unlawful actions.

In fact, almost all of them had at least one hand on the Child while McGough used this force.

Despite having the opportunity and ability to intervene and stop this gross use of force, none of them did.

Defendant Officer Flener and Officer Adel then lifted the Child off the ground and walked him to the squad car. Defendant Flener said, “if you do anything silly I’m gonna put your face on that concrete you understand?”

They placed him in the back of the car and Defendant Flener said, “If you are gonna act like an adult we are going to treat you like one,” demonstrating the officers’ actions against the Child were motivated by vengeful animus, and further demonstrating they knew they were dealing with a child.

The officers then began to discuss what happened. Officer Adel asked Defendant McGough “what happened?” McGough replied, “I got no clue, I came here and worked ole boy, got him in custody, that was it.”

While Defendant Perkins was telling other officers her version of events Sergeant Clay Collard said, “I would have kicked his head to the frickin north pole.” Perkins said, “I was gonna pull my taser out but then I just felt like, he is fifteen, you know?” 

Defendant Flener chimed in, “if they are fighting (which the Child was not), it don’t matter how old they are, everything.” Collard reiterated Flener’s point, “everything is on the table.”

The Child was then transported to the hospital for treatment. While at the hospital, Defendant Flener asked Officer Adel if anyone used force. Adel replied, “I think McGough would be a good one to ask” and smiled, apparently relishing in witnessing the torture of a handcuffed child.

Defendant Flener asked Defendant McGough if he used force to which McGough replied, “Yeah no. Definitely used force. Whenever I came up Sipes was like on his head and arm area. Perkins was on the left. So, I got legs and then started punching him in the leg area then got the baton and started just jabbing him in the leg and then he said, ‘ok ok ok’ and put his hands behind his back. But yeah definitely used force.”

Defendant McGough definitely did use force. Indeed, he employed the use of deadly force on a handcuffed Child. The Joplin Police Department promulgates guidelines for using force in section 6-03 of its Standard Operating Guidelines (“SOG”). (Ex. 1). SOG 6-03 defines three levels of force: low level, intermediate level, and deadly force. Id.

Defendant McGough reviewed SOG 6-03 when he attended the police academy.

SOG 6-03 defines deadly force as “that degree of force, which is likely to produce death or serious bodily injury.” Deadly force is only to be used when:

a. “In defense of the officer or others from what is reasonably believed to be an immediate threat of death or serious bodily harm; or

b. To prevent escape of a fleeing felon whom the officer has probable cause to believe will pose a significant, immediate threat, to human life should escape occur.” Id.

SOG 6-03 defines chokeholds as deadly force and prohibits their use except when the officer “reasonably believes such holds are the only means of protecting him/herself or another person from an imminent threat of serious physical injury or death.” It further notes that “choke holds by their nature are intended to prevent a person from breathing.” Id.

At no point was the handcuffed, subdued, not fighting, and not resisting fifteen- year-old child a deadly threat to the lives of the officers or others nor was he a fleeing felon.

Indeed, the Child had called the police to ask for their help, and ended up being brutalized by them.

Defendant McGough choked the Child intermittently for almost three minutes after he was handcuffed, also slammed his head against the ground while he was handcuffed, and otherwise brutalized the child while handcuffed.

Defendant McGough knew that this use of force was deadly because he has reviewed SOG 6-03.

The force that Defendant McGough used after the Child was handcuffed also constitutes deadly force under Missouri law, RSMo. § 563.011(2).

In addition to the deadly force used by Defendant McGough, the other force he used was also unreasonable under SOG 6-03 which provides that only low-level force is necessary to interact with a subject that is compliant or displaying a threat of passive or active resistance. (Ex. 1, pg. 6).

Low level force includes officer presence and/or appearance, tactical communication, and soft control techniques with an empty hand. Id. The tools that an officer may employ when they are authorized to use low level force are restraints, the display of a taser, the display of a K9, and the display of a firearm. Id.

The force that Defendant McGough used on the Child was far greater than the low-level force that he may have been authorized to employ. SOG 6-03 defines the use of a baton and fist as intermediate force. (Ex. 1, pg. 7). Intermediate force is only to be used where “a subject has become an aggressor and there is an imminent to immediate threat to the safety of the officer and others.” Id. Prior to using this level of force, officers must take consideration “that lower-level techniques have been exhausted or would be ineffective.” Id.

When Defendant McGough arrived on the scene, the Child was at most passively resisting the two officers who were already on top of him by keeping his arms under his body. He was not an aggressor and there was no imminent threat to the safety of the officers or others.

Indeed, when McGough arrived the Child and the officers on top of him were hardly moving.

Indeed, another officer who arrived on scene to the same situation did not jump into the fray at all.

Defendant McGough took no consideration as to whether “low-level techniques had been exhausted or would be ineffective.” Instead, he went straight to intermediate force, punching the Child and violently striking the Child with his baton.

Defendant McGough knew that this use of force was considered intermediate because he reviewed SOG 6-03 when he attended the police academy.

Defendant McGough also knew that prior to using intermediate force he needed to take into consideration the efficacy of using low level force because he reviewed SOG 6-03 when he attended the police academy.

As an immediate result of Defendant McGough’s actions, the Child suffered abrasions to his neck, back, and head. 

Additionally, as a result of the repeated baton strikes, the Child’s upper leg and hip area was left swollen, bloody, and with a large contusion. The Child continues to suffer from altered gait and pain due the excessive force employed by Officer McGough.

As a long-term result of Defendant McGough’s actions, the Child’s previously diagnosed anxiety and depression have significantly worsened. Additionally, the Child suffers from symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder.

No citizen should ever be subjected to an abuse of power as disgusting as this one, let alone a fifteen-year-old child.

The six count lawsuit accuses McGough of excessive force and assault and battery and the other officers for failure to intervene.

The plaintiffs are asking for damages, punitive damages, costs and a jury trial.