Legal action has been brought against the City of Troy, the Troy Police Department and Chief of Police Anthony Everage.

Christopher Linton, attorney for Blankenship, Harrelson & Linton, LLC of Birmingham, initiated the suit after the suicide attempt of Billy Farris in late-March in the Troy City Jail.

“The lawsuit stems from that incident,” Linton said. Farris was arrested and detained for third degree domestic violence on March 30 and was found hanging in his cell in city jail shortly thereafter. He was transported to Troy Regional Medical Center and later Baptist South in Montgomery, where he died April 12.

“We’re basically alleging that the city breached their duty that they owed to protect Mr. Farris, and as a result of that he was injured and eventually died,” Linton said.

A response from the city, the TPD and Everage should be expected by the end of May. “The defendants had it (the lawsuit) served a few days ago, and they have 30 days to file an answer,” Linton said.

“We’ll also be amending our complaint to include wrongful death.”

Mayor Jimmy Lunsford said he had just been notified about the lawsuit and couldn’t comment on it yet.