United States Court of Appeals For the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

____________ FILED September 13, 2023 No. 22-60231 Lyle W. Cayce ____________ Clerk

Thomas Walton, Individually and on Behalf of the Wrongful Death Beneficiaries of Annie Walton, Deceased; Aliven Walton,

Plaintiffs—Appellees/Cross-Appellants,

versus

City of Verona,

Defendant—Appellant/Cross-Appellee,

J.B. Long; John Does 1–25,

Defendants—Cross-Appellees. ______________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi USDC No. 1:20-CV-40 ______________________________

Before Duncan and Wilson, Circuit Judges, and Mazzant, District Judge. Amos L. Mazzant, District Judge:

 United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas, sitting by designation. Case: 22-60231 Document: 00516893587 Page: 2 Date Filed: 09/13/2023

No. 22-60231

In 2018, the Verona Police Department twice arrested Latavious Betts for his connection to violent shootings. Both times, however, he was released while his charges were pending. Just five months after his second arrest, Latavious Betts drove to Annie Walton’s house and opened fire—killing Annie Walton and injuring her grandson, Aliven Walton. Annie Walton’s wrongful death beneficiaries and Aliven Walton (collectively, the Waltons) believe the City of Verona and the Verona Chief of Police, J.B. Long, are responsible for the shooting at Annie Walton’s home, so they sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Mississippi Tort Claims Act. At summary judgment, the district court initially dismissed all claims. But the Waltons filed a motion for reconsideration, and the district court reversed course—finding the City of Verona was not entitled to sovereign immunity under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act. The Waltons and the City of Verona subsequently filed interlocutory appeals. For the following reasons, we dismiss the Waltons’ appeal for lack of jurisdiction, and reverse the district court’s finding against the City regarding sovereign immunity. I.

This case finds its genesis in three shootings that occurred only a few months apart from one another. In each case, Latavious Betts (Betts) was a primary suspect. On March 22, 2018, three men fired gunshots at a carwash in Verona, Mississippi, and Jaskin Green was killed during the exchange. Verona Police Chief J.B. Long (Long) investigated the incident and interviewed several witnesses connected to the murder. Based on the information he received, Long believed Betts was involved in the shooting, and he convinced Justice Court Judge Hopkins to issue a warrant for Betts’s arrest. Betts was taken into custody and placed on an investigatory hold. While in custody, Betts

2 Case: 22-60231 Document: 00516893587 Page: 3 Date Filed: 09/13/2023

No. 22-60231

informed Long that he did not know anything about the murder, and he was not present at the carwash when the shooting occurred.