By Anthony Howard
Attorney and Jackson State University alum Trent Walker, J.D., serves as local counsel for one of the biggest civil rights cases in his career and Mississippi history. He’s a member of the legal team representing Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker, two men who were tortured by five Rankin County Sheriff Deputies and a Richland police officer.
The sentencing of the former law enforcement officers had been scheduled to begin November 14, but U.S. District Judge Tom Lee wrote in an order that the court would delay it in response to motions from some of the officers.
However, Walker and the legal team are filing a civil suit against the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department, requesting $400 million for their clients.
“We’re not backing down on that being our ask in this particular case. We want monetary justice, and we want to affect change,” Walker declared. “It was incredibly difficult to believe that all the allegations, now admitted facts, were true.”
The Jenkins and Parkers case garnered national attention after the men filed a lawsuit against the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department following a raid on January 24, 2023.
During the unwarranted raid, the men were waterboarded, tasered, beaten, and sexually assaulted, and Jenkins was shot in the mouth, according to Walker.
The former law enforcement officers also admitted to attempting to cover up the attack by destroying evidence and planting a gun on the scene.
In August, the five accused former Rankin County Sheriff’s Deputies, Brett McAlphin, Hunter Edward, Christian Dedmon, Jeffrey Middleton, and former Richland Police Officer Joshua Hartfield, plead guilty to all charges in a Brandon, Mississippi, state court.
“As a native of Rankin County, when the case came to me, I saw it as an opportunity to make some change, and I wasn’t going to let that pass,” explained Walker, a 1991 JSU graduate.
“Malik Shabazz [lead attorney] asked me to be local counsel, and the two of us have worked well together, and I think we’re going to bring about some change.”
The guilty plea made by the former officers makes this the first time in the state’s history that a White law enforcement officer has ever been held criminally accountable for police misconduct against a Black person, according to Shabazz.
“The fact that these officers were members of what they called the “Goon Squad,” and were participating in excessive force and planting drugs on people was not unusual for them,” said Walker.
The two attorneys are pushing for the judges presiding over the case to punish the ex-officers to the fullest extent of the law without any leniency.
Prior to his work on this prolific case, Walker has had a varied practice throughout his 20-plus years of practicing law. After receiving his law degree from Tulane University in New Orleans, he clerked for Justice James W. Smith at the Mississippi Supreme Court.
A member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., Walker served as a public defender in Yazoo County and as an assistant Hinds County prosecutor. He was appointed special Circuit Court Judge in Hinds County and was a referee and prosecutor in Hinds County Youth Court and Youth Drug Court.
Currently, Walker is the public defender for the city of Lexington, Hinds County Justice Court, and special master for commitment hearings. He said he decided to become a lawyer at the age of 14.
“I think that I just liked debating with people and lawyers certainly argue and debate all the time. That may have been the driving force in my 14-year-old mind at the time,” Walker recalled.
While attending Jackson State, Walker was active in the Student Government Association. He was elected as chief justice for the SGA twice. He encourages current students to take full advantage of their time at JSU.
“It is a fun experience, but it can’t all be about fun. You have to keep the main thing the main thing. Keep the academics first and take the time to study for the standardized test,” he advised.