A Parrish woman is suing Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith and two others claiming her advocacy for Tony Mitchell and for better jail conditions led to her firing.

Kayse Brown worked as a certified recovery specialist at the Recovery Resource Center, a United Way Agency that worked with the Walker County Jail to aid those struggling with addiction.

Mitchell, 33, died Jan. 26, 2023, at Walker Baptist Medical Center, just over two weeks after he was arrested on charges that he shot at Walker County deputies as they responded to a welfare check requested by his family.

The county coroner’s death certificate listed Mitchell’s manner of death as homicide and listed the causes as hypothermia and sepsis “resulting from infected injuries obtained during incarceration and medical neglect.”

A former jailer last week was charged, and signed an agreement to plead guilty, in Mitchell’s death. More arrests are expected.

After Mitchell’s death, Brown launched the Justice for Tony Mitchell Facebook page. She was fired May 8, 2023, and claims her termination was retaliation and a violation of her freedom of her freedom of speech.

The federal lawsuit names as defendants Smith, Investigator Carl Carpenter and jail administrator Justin White.

The defendants have not commented on the lawsuit.

According to the suit, Brown was hired by the center in 2021.

After Mitchell’s death, she began to advocate for transparency and better jail conditions.

On March 6, 2023, the lawsuit states, Carpenter sent a text to the center’s director, John Bayles, sharing Facebook posts by Brown regarding Mitchell and the jail.

The following day, Brown claims, the director discussed the situation with her and told her to “be careful,” and that the sheriff didn’t like her advocacy for Mitchell.

White, the suit states, also wrote to Brown’s employer, saying Brown’s advocacy was threatening her employer’s relationship with the jail.

Bayles told Brown that he was told by a jail representative that that they know “how valuable the RRC is,” but that it’s “gotten really hard to separate” it from her advocacy regarding Tony Mitchell’s death.

The representative said that “the bridges aren’t burned, but they seem to be smoldering” and they would “appreciate [his] help putting it out” on his side, the suit states.

“Bayles told Brown that the reality of the situation is that her advocacy regarding Mitchell’s death was jeopardizing the Recovery Resource Center’s ability to help people,’’ according to the lawsuit.

Brown was fired May 8, 2023. When asked why she was fired, her employers told her they had a complaint from the “Partner Community.”

Following her termination, the lawsuit claims, White and Carpenter gathered the female jail employees to make them aware of Brown’s firing and told them not to trust.

The suit also alleges that inmates had frequent called Brown’s cell phone to report jail conditions but that inmates were blocked from doing so further.