Texas sheriff’s office releases video related to Black man who died in custody

The Collin County Sheriff’s Workplace in Texas launched a greater than 40-minute jailhouse video associated to the dying of Marvin Scott III, a Black man who died in March after a struggle with detention officers.

The video’s launch got here two weeks after a grand jury declined to indict eight jailors involved in the death.

The March 14 footage comprises no sound and was given to NBC Information with the faces blurred. The sheriff’s workplace mentioned in an e mail that the faces had been “deliberately blurred” and the dearth of sound is as a result of the jail’s digicam system doesn’t report audio.

Assistant Chief Deputy Nick Bristow mentioned that the video was made public as a result of Sheriff Jim Skinner promised Scott’s household that the division can be clear.

“As different proceedings are attainable or pending, the Sheriff’s Workplace has no additional remark right now,” he mentioned.

The video begins with the jailers opening Scott’s cell within the reserving space. It seems that they attempt to take away his arm from a gap within the cell door. After releasing his arm, they stroll Scott to a holding room and place him on a restraint mattress.

The footage reveals Scott struggling as deputies try to put ankle, leg, chest and wrist straps on him. They ultimately get the ankle and leg straps on as a jailer holds one in every of Scott’s arms behind his again. That very same jailer is later seen within the video pushing on the again of Scott’s neck as he continues to battle.

At one level within the video, Scott is pepper-sprayed and a jailer places his palms on the edges of Scott’s neck. In response to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth, the jailer was making use of a stress level management method. A spit masks is then positioned on Scott’s head and he’s strapped throughout the chest and wrists.

About quarter-hour into the video, Scott seems to enter misery. Roughly three minutes later, the jailers are seen shaking Scott earlier than they shortly take away the spit masks and straps. A nurse known as into the room.

For about 20 minutes, first responders and nurses attempt to revive Scott, the video reveals. He is ultimately positioned on a stretcher and brought to a hospital, the place he was later pronounced lifeless.

Scott, 26, was arrested on March 14 by Allen police after officers had been known as to an outlet mall for a disturbance. The Allen Police Division mentioned in a press release on the time that officers observed Scott was “performing in an erratic method and had been involved for his security because of the attainable ingestion of medication.”

He was taken into custody on a misdemeanor cost of possession of fewer than two ounces of marijuana, Allen police mentioned.

Scott was taken to the Texas Well being Presbyterian Hospital Allen, the place he stayed within the emergency room for about three hours, police mentioned. After his launch, he was processed on the Allen police division after which transferred to the Collin County Sheriff’s Workplace.

Collin County authorities mentioned that whereas he was in custody on the sheriff’s workplace, he started to behave unusually. Detention officers secured him to a restraint mattress earlier than pepper-spraying him and putting a spit masks on his face, in accordance with the sheriff’s workplace. They mentioned he ultimately turned unresponsive and was taken to the hospital.

The Collin County Medical Examiner’s Workplace dominated the dying a murder and mentioned that Scott died of “deadly acute stress response” whereas combating officers.

Seven detention officers who had been underneath investigation had been fired in April whereas an eighth officer resigned. Six of them appealed their terminations, resulting in the reinstatement of one of many officers, NBC Dallas-Fort Worth reported.

In a press release asserting the terminations and resignation, Skinner mentioned the proof he noticed confirmed the officers had “violated well-established Sheriff’s Workplace insurance policies and procedures.”

In June, a grand jury declined to indict the officers, saying that they discovered no possible trigger to cost them with a criminal offense. The jury additionally issued a press release suggesting {that a} workgroup is created to check the dying to stop one thing related from occurring once more.

Lee Merritt, an lawyer for Scott’s household, couldn’t be reached for touch upon Saturday. He beforehand mentioned that Scott was having a psychological well being episode. Scott’s mom, LaSandra Scott, informed NBC Dallas-Fort Value that her son was identified with schizophrenia two years in the past, however he hadn’t had an episode in a few yr.

“Once we acquired him OK along with his medicine, he was beginning to take them and fell off and felt like if he would use marijuana, it could profit him extra,” LaSandra Scott informed the station in April.

Zach Horn, an lawyer representing a number of of the officers, was not instantly accessible for remark.

The Related Press contributed.