{"id":150731,"date":"2021-05-05T15:17:35","date_gmt":"2021-05-05T15:17:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/radiofree.asia\/?guid=b1c69d7a6b3626081ccc15d4e253a648"},"modified":"2021-05-05T15:17:35","modified_gmt":"2021-05-05T15:17:35","slug":"jailers-tortured-and-murdered-marvin-scott-iii-family-says-after-viewing-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/05\/05\/jailers-tortured-and-murdered-marvin-scott-iii-family-says-after-viewing-video\/","title":{"rendered":"Jailers Tortured and Murdered Marvin Scott III, Family Says After Viewing Video"},"content":{"rendered":"<a href=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/articles\/jailers-tortured-and-murdered-marvin-scott-iii-family-says-after-viewing-video\/\"><img width=\"200\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Marvin-Protest-200x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Demonstrators gather in Plano, Texas, to protest the in-custody homicide of Marvin Scott III on May 2, 2021.\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Marvin-Protest-200x150.jpg 200w, https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Marvin-Protest-400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Marvin-Protest-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Marvin-Protest-800x600.jpg 800w, https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Marvin-Protest-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Marvin-Protest.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><p>In their first one-on-one interview since viewing horrific footage of their son\u2019s in-custody homicide at the hands of eight Collin County, Texas, jailers on March 14, the parents of Marvin Scott III told <em>Truthout<\/em> that their son experienced a \u201cwhole day of torture\u201d instead of receiving the help he needed during a mental health crisis.<\/p>\n<p>The five-hour video, which lacked audio, was so horrible, LaSandra Scott tells <em>Truthout<\/em>, that, \u201cThey might as well have just shot him so it could be over quick,\u201d emphasizing the hours of suffering her son went through. \u201cThese people need to go to jail, and they need to go to jail now, as we speak.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_284245\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 351px;\" itemprop=\"image\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Marvin-Scott-III.jpg\" alt=\"Marvin Scott III\" class=\" wp-image-284245\" width=\"341\" height=\"341\" srcset=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Marvin-Scott-III.jpg 930w, https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Marvin-Scott-III-400x400.jpg 400w, https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Marvin-Scott-III-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Marvin-Scott-III-800x800.jpg 800w, https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Marvin-Scott-III-250x250.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 341px) 100vw, 341px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\" itemprop=\"caption\">Marvin Scott III<\/figcaption><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-credit\" itemprop=\"author\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Person\"><span itemprop=\"name\">Courtesy: The Scott family<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Police in Allen, Texas, arrested the 26-year-old Marvin Scott III, who was Black, on a marijuana possession charge March 14 after finding him sitting next to a single joint at the Allen Premium Outlets mall. From there, his family and their attorney say, police took him to the Allen city jail. When they began noticing strange behavior, they transferred him to Allen Presbyterian Hospital.<\/p>\n<p>Marvin III had been diagnosed with schizophrenia two years prior. After more than a year without an episode, his parents believe his initial interaction with officers triggered a relapse.<\/p>\n<p>A doctor who evaluated Marvin III at Allen Presbyterian determined he was fit for custody, his parents and attorney say, and he was taken to Collin County Jail. He would not make it out alive.<\/p>\n<p>The family says six jailers participated in torturing him, attempting to strap him to a restraint bed, pepper-spraying him and covering his face with a spit hood as he rapidly deteriorated and eventually died.<\/p>\n<p>The Collin County medical examiner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/news\/2021\/04\/28\/family-of-marvin-scott-calls-for-arrests-after-viewing-footage-of-his-in-custody-death-at-collin-county-jail\/?utm_content=buffere63b4&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer\">officially ruled<\/a> Marvin III\u2019s death a homicide last week, more than a month after he was killed. Marvin III\u2019s cause of death, according to Collin County Medical Examiner Dr. William Rohr, was \u201cfatal acute stress response in an individual with previously diagnosed schizophrenia during restraint struggle with law enforcement.\u201d A final autopsy report is still pending release. He had been in custody for at least 10 hours, the family\u2019s attorney, Lee Merritt, says.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pullquote\">\u201cThey might as well have just shot him so it could be over quick.\u201d<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cAfter viewing the video, and then we were released to go home, and then you reflect on what you just saw and take it all in, oh my God. It was worse than anything you can imagine,\u201d Marvin III\u2019s father, Marvin Scott Jr., told <em>Truthout<\/em>. Instead of getting him the mental health support he needed, Marvin Jr. says, the jailers instead \u201c\u2018helped\u2019 him to an agonizing death.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marvin III, his parents say, was never violent or threatening, even during mental episodes in which he experienced delusions or hallucinations. \u201cHe\u2019d just get really anxious and start talking about things that weren\u2019t true,\u201d LaSandra says. \u201cWhen we would see that coming on, we would get him help.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner fired seven jailers and another resigned after the in-custody homicide. One of the jailers has since been reinstated, however, through the state\u2019s Civil Service Commission process, a decision the sheriff has said he disagreed with.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pullquote\">\u201cAfter viewing the video, and then we were released to go home, and then you reflect on what you just saw and take it all in, oh my God. It was worse than anything you can imagine.\u201d<\/aside>\n<p>Last week,<em> The Dallas Morning News<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/news\/2021\/04\/28\/family-of-marvin-scott-calls-for-arrests-after-viewing-footage-of-his-in-custody-death-at-collin-county-jail\/?utm_content=buffere63b4&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer\">obtained and published<\/a> the names of eight jailers, despite efforts by the Collin County Sheriff\u2019s Office to keep the names secret. In its appeal to the state attorney general to deny the paper\u2019s public records request, the office argued that releasing the names could interfere with an active criminal investigation by the Texas Rangers. Sheriffs also told <em>The News<\/em> the office could not comment on the possibility of arrests due to the Ranger investigation. The Collin County district attorney\u2019s office likewise told <em>The News<\/em> it does not comment on pending cases.<\/p>\n<p>The paper then turned to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, seeking the names of the jailers who were fired or resigned on April 1. The Commission requires law enforcement agencies to file reports when officers or jailers are terminated or resign. The Commission provided the following eight names: Blaise Mikulewicz, Austin Wong, Justin Patrick, Rafael Paradez, James Schoelen, Alec Difatta, Andres Cardenas and Christopher Windsor.<\/p>\n<p>LaSandra and Marvin Jr. expressed dismay at the reinstatement of one of the jailers, whose identity remains unknown, telling <em>Truthout <\/em>he shouldn\u2019t have been able to appeal his termination through the state\u2019s Civil Service Commission while an active criminal investigation is still playing out. \u201cIs that even possible, or is there some type of loophole?\u201d LaSandra says. \u201cThere\u2019s no way these individuals need to be walking around talking about, \u2018I want my job back.\u2019 We\u2019re in disagreement of that, because if you see something, do something,\u201d she said, referring to the two jailers who weren\u2019t actively engaged with Marvin but still present.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pullquote\">\u201cAllegedly he was restrained [at the Allen jail] in a chair for 11 minutes, so we need to see what happened to our son and how he was treated there before going to the hospital.\u201d<\/aside>\n<p>The family\u2019s attorney, Merritt, is working to obtain video footage of the events leading up to Marvin III\u2019s in-custody homicide, including any video showing his initial interaction with Allen police at Premium Outlets mall. This could include security footage from the mall\u2019s North Face store and body-worn and dash camera footage from Allen police. He\u2019s also working to obtain video showing what happened during Marvin III\u2019s time at the Allen jail, the Allen Presbyterian Hospital and during transport. The family plans to file a federal civil rights claim once they have the videos and after the conclusion of law enforcement agencies\u2019 criminal investigations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAllegedly he was restrained [at the Allen city jail] in a chair for 11 minutes, so we need to see what happened to our son and how he was treated there before going to the hospital,\u201d LaSandra says.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also imperative to understand Marvin III\u2019s initial interaction with Allen police at the mall. The fact that he was arrested for such a small amount of marijuana, especially as surrounding counties like Dallas are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/news\/crime\/2021\/04\/19\/dallas-police-to-stop-arresting-people-for-small-amounts-of-marijuana-after-new-policy\/\">no longer arresting<\/a> people for personal possession of small amounts, is crushing, the family says. \u201cIt was very petty for the officers to apprehend him without giving him a warning because knowing that in other counties, that wasn\u2019t an issue,\u201d LaSandra says.<\/p>\n<p>Merritt tells <em>Truthout <\/em>he\u2019s encouraging the Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis to release the video to the public and that, based on the footage, there\u2019s enough probable cause for an arrest. Still, he says, prosecutors are concerned \u201cabout tampering the jury pool through release of the video, and there\u2019s concern that they have not received a complete file from the Texas Rangers.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pullquote\">\u201cCases like this very often result in a natural causes finding when there\u2019s a preexisting condition or an enlarged heart. We saw that go back and forth a lot in the George Floyd case, so having an initial finding of homicide is important.\u201d<\/aside>\n<p>While some attorneys <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/news\/2021\/04\/28\/family-of-marvin-scott-calls-for-arrests-after-viewing-footage-of-his-in-custody-death-at-collin-county-jail\/?utm_content=buffere63b4&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer\">have argued<\/a> that a death caused by acute stress response may not amount to criminal liability because of Marvin III\u2019s preexisting mental illness, Merritt says the causality is clear: The jailers caused the stress which caused Marvin III\u2019s death. He compared the rationale to defense attorneys who argued George Floyd died of car exhaust instead of Derek Chauvin\u2019s knee. Further, he says, there was clearly reckless indifference and negligence on the part of the jailers, who violated procedures and training on detecting and responding to people who are having mental episodes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCases like this very often result in a natural causes [of death] finding when there\u2019s a preexisting condition or an enlarged heart. We saw that go back and forth a lot in the George Floyd case, so having an initial finding of homicide is important,\u201d Merritt says. \u201cMy federal experience has taught me, repeatedly, that the medical examiner\u2019s statements were very strong in favor of criminal accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In any case, prosecutors will have to present medical experts to a grand jury that will decide whether the jailers\u2019 actions were unlawful. Arrests in jail-related, in-custody deaths are rarely made before a grand jury reviews evidence, and a grand jury trial is likely still weeks away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs we reach day 50 since Marvin died, we\u2019re starting to lose faith in the local prosecutors\u201d due to \u201ctheir failure to act,\u201d Merritt says. Normally, he says he would anticipate the Department of Justice stepping in, as has happened in other, more high-profile cases. However, one of the jailers, Blaise Mikulewicz, worked for the FBI for 23 years prior to joining the Collin County Sheriff\u2019s Office, so Merritt says he\u2019s cautious about turning to the federal level for recourse.<\/p>\n<p>Marvin Jr. says that while he feels good about how Collin County DA Willis has handled the case so far, he feels the Texas Rangers investigation, in contrast, has been more tightly controlled and less transparent. The parents say they haven\u2019t heard an update from the Rangers since they initially spoke in the immediate aftermath of the homicide. They also say they never received a call from law enforcement about their son in the days following his murder.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pullquote\">\u201cAs we reach day 50 since Marvin died, we\u2019re starting to lose faith in the local prosecutors.\u201d<\/aside>\n<p>LaSandra tells <em>Truthout<\/em> that after the Collin County Medical Examiner\u2019s Office confirmed the death of her son on a Sunday afternoon in March, she was directed to call the Texas Rangers to find out what happened. She didn\u2019t hear back from the Rangers, she says, until about 8 pm that evening to set up a meeting for the following Tuesday. \u201cSo we went not knowing for all of those days, which is totally disrespectful and not the process on how you do things. We should have heard from law enforcement initially, and they could have taken things from there. It was so insensitive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Texas Rangers investigation, Marvin Jr. says, has been very secretive. \u201cEverything is being investigated, and it\u2019s just kept hush-hush. They don\u2019t say nothing. You can\u2019t talk about this, you can\u2019t talk about that, because it\u2019s pending investigation, and I understand that,\u201d Marvin Jr. says. \u201cI don\u2019t want to mess nothing up. But I\u2019m a father who lost a son, and I need everybody to know about this, so this don\u2019t happen to nobody else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite the grisly details surrounding the in-custody homicide, the case hasn\u2019t gained as much national traction as other law enforcement-perpetrated killings making headlines in the aftermath of the Chauvin verdict last month. That may be partly because video of the homicide has yet to be released, and partly because in-custody deaths in county jails are sometimes harder to shine a spotlight on. That\u2019s something the Scott family wants to change.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pullquote\">\u201cIf Marvin was killed at the Outlet mall, I believe that case would garner more attention. But when someone dies in an in-custody death, most people have a knee-jerk, conditioned response.&#8221;<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cEven though it\u2019s just as horrific as all the other cases, it\u2019s a little bit different because it was behind closed doors. There\u2019s no bodycam. There\u2019s a camera, but there\u2019s no bodycam,\u201d Marvin Jr. told <em>Truthout<\/em>, noting that body-worn camera footage is often released to the public more quickly. \u201cI think it\u2019s that difference that\u2019s keeping his story kind of quiet. I think [law enforcement likes] that. They don\u2019t want all the attention on this case. But we need the attention on the case. People need to hear about it. I do want it to go national.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Attorney Merritt believes that Marvin\u2019s III case isn\u2019t trending the way other cases are because of the stigmatization of incarcerated people and those already in custody. \u201cIf Marvin was killed at the Outlet mall, I believe that case would garner more attention. But when someone dies in an in-custody death, most people have a knee-jerk, conditioned response that that\u2019s a \u2018bad\u2019 person who did a \u2018bad\u2019 thing, and it\u2019s kind of their own fault if they\u2019re in jail.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Until more video evidence and information is released, the family says they will continue protesting alongside local supporters every Tuesday and Thursday outside the Collin County Jail and marching on the weekends elsewhere in the area, including the Premium Outlets mall. \u201cAs long as we can continue [protesting], they can\u2019t sweep it under the rug,\u201d Marvin Jr. says.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pullquote\">\u201cAs long as we can continue [protesting], they can\u2019t sweep it under the rug.\u201d<\/aside>\n<p>Protesting, they say, also helps them endure the other traumas and hardships they\u2019ve carried since Marvin III\u2019s murder in mid-March. LaSandra, a home health nurse, says she hasn\u2019t been able to work under the weight of her grief. \u201cWe barely working. We barely can make it,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s disrupted me because it\u2019s so traumatic. I can\u2019t even think\u2026. I can\u2019t possibly take care of anybody at this point. It\u2019s depressing. The most horrible feeling one could ever have, surrounding these awful circumstances. It\u2019s hard to get the proper rest. It\u2019s hard to think about what you need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"syndicated-attribution\">This post was originally published on <a href=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/articles\/jailers-tortured-and-murdered-marvin-scott-iii-family-says-after-viewing-video\/\">Latest \u2013 Truthout<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/articles\/jailers-tortured-and-murdered-marvin-scott-iii-family-says-after-viewing-video\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Marvin-Protest-200x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Demonstrators gather in Plano, Texas, to protest the in-custody homicide of Marvin Scott III on May 2, 2021.\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-summary\">After viewing tape of Scott&#8217;s in-custody murder at the Collin County Jail, his family says he suffered &#8220;day of torture.&#8221;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1843,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22467,22468,17366,22469,4761,22470,4098,4,872,876],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150731"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1843"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150731"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150732,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150731\/revisions\/150732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}