Chavis Carter Shot Himself While Handcuffed In Police Car, Cops Claim, But His Mother Says Police Killed Him

Carter, of Southaven, Miss., was a passenger in a so-called suspicious vehicle -- a white truck -- that was stopped July 29 by police in Jonesboro, Ark.

According to the Jonesboro olice Department's initial incident report available via KAIT8, a local affiliate of the ABC television network, Officer Keith Baggett said that while he searched the vehicle, Officer Ron Marsh questioned and searched Carter. The officer reportedly found "some marijuana" and several new plastic baggies on Carter.

The police also learned Carter was wanted as the result of a warrant issued in DeSoto County, Miss. After the officers searched the so-called suspicious vehicle for weapons, Carter was arrested and detained in the police car.

Shortly afterward, police said they heard a thumping noise, and they found Carter in a "sitting position slumped forward with his head in his lap," according to KAIT. A small-caliber handgun was reportedly found beside Carter.

Baggett wrote that he radioed for an ambulance. Carter was taken to St. Bernards Medical Center, where he later died of his injury. According to the police report, the evidence indicates that neither officer fired a shot or was in a position to enter the police vehicle.

The officers who detained Carter are currently on administrative leave. The Jonesboro police are continuing to investigate, but, meanwhile, Carter's mother, Teresa Carter, has doubts about the police officers' story. 

"I think they killed him," Carter told WREG, a Memphis affiliate of the CBS television network. "My son wasn't suicidal."