Author: Shana Tatum
Published: April 28, 2025
MILLER COUNTY, AR – U.S. Navy veteran Demario Lashun Hankins, also known as Demar Bey, urgently calls for national attention after filing a federal lawsuit exposing shocking civil rights violations, excessive force, and systemic corruption at Miller County Jail in Arkansas.
The nightmare began on May 6, 2022, when Arkansas State Trooper Dale Young conducted an illegal pretextual traffic stop absent probable cause a crime was committed, and transported Hankins across state lines from Texas to Arkansas—without ever allowing him to see a magistrate in Texas, as required by law. Despite facing only minor alleged infractions, Hankins was never granted a trial or allowed to face his accuser in District Court.
What followed was even more disturbing: Hankins, who had no prior criminal record, was pepper-sprayed, assaulted, and thrown into solitary confinement for 18 days after requesting medical attention. During this time, he was completely cut off from legal counsel, family, and the outside world.
The former officer responsible for the assault, Correctional Officer Studdard, has a documented history of excessive force, including being named in multiple civil rights lawsuits (e.g., Mack v. Studdard - pending Federal case # 4:24-cv-04002). Despite clear video evidence contradicting official reports, Miller County officials—including Judge Thomas A. Potter, Prosecutor David Cotton, and Deputy Joshua Pendergrass—allegedly covered up the original charges, redirecting attention from the misconduct that started it all.
Now placed on probation under extreme duress, without representation of counsel at sentencing, and fighting to clear his name, Hankins has filed an amended federal civil rights lawsuit on April 22, 2025, demanding accountability and justice, not just for himself, but for others who have suffered silently under similar abuse. He also filed a supplemental notice to his amended complaint detailing additional evidence of misconduct and systemic abuses at the facility.
Additional documentation of abuses at the Miller County Detention Center has been made publicly available at Lawfully Equal.
“This is bigger than me,” Hankins said. “I served my country with honor. I will not stay silent while my rights—and the rights of countless others—are trampled.”