Race

22-year-old #daveymarkjimmerson dies in his cell after family claims he was denied medical

March 28, 2017

Another day, another Black person dead in a cell. State authorities are investigating the death of Davey Mark Jimmerson at the Oklahoma County Jail. As the local NBC news channel reports: “Around 2 a.m. Saturday, 21-year-old Davey Mark Jimmerson was found unresponsive inside his jail cell. Officials say Jimmerson was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy will be performed to determine Jimmerson’s cause and manner of death.”

According to a Facebook post by Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors, the Jimmerson family alleges that he died after having an asthma attack and being denied medical care (and they also correct his age to 22):

After the death of Sandra Bland in a Texas Jail cell in July 2015, and the $1.9 million wrongful death settlement awarded to her family, the sometimes fatal mistreatment of inmates–particularly inmates of color–has come increasingly under the spotlight. A few days ago, the story of how Florida won’t press charges against prison guards who allegedly boiled a Black man to death went viral. Last month, Jay-Z produced a documentary on the case of Kalief Browder, a 22-year-old who killed himself after years of abuse and two years in solitary confinement at Rikers.

If Jimmerson’s death was caused by similar mistreatment, we hope that such awareness helps prevent the case from being swept under the rug, and that the family is able to find justice.

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