A Marion man has sued a Perry County woman for libel over a Facebook post he says falsely identified him as the person who broke into a Marion home last year.
Chris Murphy filed the suit Friday, Sept. 11, in Perry County Circuit Court against Loretta Etheredge, who the complaint says was a member, administrator or contributor to the “What’s Happening in Marion” Facebook page.
According to the complaint, posts on the page on May 31 and June 1, 2025, concerned an unauthorized entry into a Marion residence and included photographs. Etheredge, the suit says, wrote that “Chris Murphy is the one in the tank top,” identifying him with certainty as the person who had entered the home without the owner’s permission. The statement was false, the complaint says: Murphy did not enter or break into the residence and did not agree to be named or identified in the post.
The suit says people who saw the post began contacting Murphy by phone and in person, calling him names and making derogatory remarks, and that he has suffered embarrassment, humiliation and damage to his personal reputation and his standing as a business owner. It says the post was shared, copied and commented on and may still be circulating.
Murphy is asking for compensatory and punitive damages, costs and attorney’s fees, and has demanded a jury trial. He is represented by Robert H. Turner Sr. of Turner Law Firm in Marion.
No response had been filed as of press time.
