The death of Marvin David Scott III, a 26-year-old Black man who was first arrested and taken to a Texas detention facility in March and ended up dead, has been ruled a homicide.
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Dr. William Rohr, the medical examiner in Collin County, said Wednesday that Scottโs death was caused by โfatal acute stress response in an individual with previously diagnosed schizophrenia during restraint struggle with law enforcement,โ according to CBS News.
Rohr said his office is waiting to obtain laboratory results before releasing the final autopsy report.
As The Root previously reported, Scott was arrested by officers with the Allen Police Department on March 14, who claimed he was โacting in an erratic mannerโ at a local mall. From there, Scott was transported to a hospital and held in an emergency room โdue to the possible ingestion of drugs.โ
Scott was arrested for having less than 2 ounces of marijuana on him. This is the messed up part; it goes into the bigger conversation over marijuana legalization. But I digress. He was then transferred to a detention facility in Collin County at 6:22 p.m., according to Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner.
Here is more background, per CBS News:
Skinner said Scott began exhibiting โstrange behaviorโ in the booking area at some point after he arrived, but did not elaborate. When several officers struggled to secure him to a restraint bed, they deployed pepper spray once and placed a spit mask โ a covering with netting fabric designed to prevent a person from spitting on officers โ on his face, Skinner added.
Scott became unresponsive while being placed on the restraint bed at approximately 10:22 p.m., Skinner said, adding that he โimmediatelyโ received care but was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Skinner did not provide additional detail about the four-hour period Scott was in custody or the specific circumstances that led to his death. But in early April, he fired seven officers who he said โviolated well-established Sheriffโs Office policies and proceduresโ when handling Scott, and an eighth officer under investigation resigned.
โEveryone in Collin County deserves safe and fair treatment, including those in custody at our jail. I will not tolerate less,โ Skinner said when announcing the firings. Six of the officers appealed their termination and one has since been reinstated, according to CBS Dallas-Fort Worth.
That is the copsโ perspective.
Scottโs family watched nearly five hours of footage, including video of his death. Family attorney Lee Merritt said the footage showed โrepeated opportunitiesโ to provide aid to Scott, who he said โwas clearly in a schizophrenic episode.โ
โInstead, he received brutality,โ Merritt said. โInstead, he was maced. He was assaulted, he was restrained, he was treated as someone who was being criminally non-compliant, not as someone in need of desperate help.โ
The sheriffโs office had records of Scottโs mental health issues, according to Merritt. Skinner declined to comment on whether officers knew of a history of mental illness.
Scottโs mom, LaSandra, said the footage was โHorrific, inhumane,โ and โvery disheartening.โ
Another family member shared LaSandraโs feelings.
โWhen I was watching this, I felt like I wanted to be there for him, but I couldnโt. It was too late,โ another family member said. โAnd we ask for justice because at this point thatโs all we can ask for.โ
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