‘Why did this happen?’ Video of Charleston Co. jail death draws outcry from city
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Jamal Sutherland
Jamal Sutherland, a Black man with a history of mental illness, died at the Charleston County Jail on Jan. 5. After graphic footage showing his death was released by the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office, many questions around the investigation remain.
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Graphic footage released late Thursday by the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office shows the final moments of the life of Jamal Sutherland, a Black man with a history of mental illness whose Jan. 5 death at the Charleston County jail remains under investigation.
In one of the videos, deputies are seen entering Sutherland’s jail cell and shocking him repeatedly with a stun gun. He screams, and later, slumps over.
“We agree it is clearly time for the public to view what happened,” Charleston County Sheriff Kristin Graziano said in a statement where she called what happened to Sutherland a “horrible tragedy.”
The hours of footage released late Thursday night come amid a months-long investigation that has yet to answer questions about how this happened and why Sutherland died.
Friday, Charleston city leaders expressed heartache and disgust over Sutherland’s death.
“What we saw on that tape was so senseless. It was horrible,” Mayor John Tecklenburg said at a press conference in downtown Charleston, shortly before Sutherland’s family planned to speak at a press conference outside the county jail in North Charleston. “What rationale could there be for the treatment that Jamal received? My mind can’t find one.”
While Charleston city police were not involved in Sutherland’s arrest or death, both Tecklenburg and city Police Chief Luther Reynolds said they and the entire community should work urgently to address the intersection of criminal justice and mental health.
Reynolds said Thursday night was the first time he saw the videos of the jail officers tasing Sutherland and the man dying.
“When I saw George Floyd last year, almost to the day, it was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen. This is right in that same category,” Reynolds said. “It was painful. It was difficult. ... It’s not normal. It’s not something anyone should have to see. ...
“Why did this happen?” he asked.
County Sheriff Graziano said she had deferred to the Sutherland family’s wishes to keep the jail footage private until they were ready.
“They have now asked me to release the jail footage of their son, Jamal Sutherland,” Graziano said.
In a statement Thursday night, Graziano said, “As sheriff, I regret that this occurred.”
“In my career as a law enforcement professional, I have seen my fellow officers take on mental health responsibilities that they are not equipped to handle. This must be changed, and I am committed to implementing that change. These are systemic issues that our nation is facing on a daily basis,” she said.
Graziano said earlier in the week that the two deputies directly involved in the incident were placed on leave “for several weeks” after Sutherland’s death in January and have since been reassigned to administrative duties.
What the videos show
Sutherland, 31, was due in bond court the morning of Jan. 5 after he was accused of getting into a fight the day before at Palmetto Lowcountry Behavioral Health, a mental health facility where he admitted himself to receive treatment for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Sutherland was arrested by North Charleston police.
North Charleston city officials on Wednesday released dispatch audio and body camera footage related to Sutherland’s arrest.
“While the city’s involvement ended the day prior to Jamal’s passing, I can at least shed light on the city of North Charleston’s interactions,” Mayor Keith Summey said in an almost 9-minute video posted to the city’s social media pages.
Dozens of video clips released by the sheriff’s office Thursday night offer a visual timeline, from multiple angles, of Sutherland’s final hours in the county jail. The footage spans the moment Sutherland was booked on Jan. 4 to the struggle that ensued the next morning with jail officials that ended in his death.
In a 30-minute segment of a jail officer’s body camera, officers can be heard discussing that Sutherland had refused to come out of his cell.
“He’s refusing to cuff up, taking an aggressive stance,” an officer said. “He’s already said we have to use force on him.” A judge had ordered Sutherland to be brought to the bond hearing.
Sutherland can be heard shouting, “Hallelujah.” Another officer said he wanted to make sure the cameras were on before they tried to get Sutherland out of the cell.
For the next 11 minutes, officers tried to get Sutherland out of the cell. They told him to come to the door to be cuffed. They told him to drop a spoon he’s holding. They sprayed what appears to be pepper spray into the cell. When nothing worked, they cracked the door and appeared to shoot Sutherland with a stun gun.
Sutherland fell to the ground, and officers ordered him to the door. Sutherland said he couldn’t stand up and started to crawl closer to the door. An officer ordered him to get on his stomach. Sutherland got on his knees and said, “This is as far as I’m turning.”
An officer went into the cell to handcuff Sutherland. But then a struggle ensued. Officers yelled for Sutherland to stop resisting. Sutherland said he wasn’t resisting.
Another officer appeared to shock Sutherland again with a stun gun. An officer forced him onto his stomach, and an officer got on top of him for about three and half minutes while they cuffed him. The struggle was mostly over at that point, and they slid Sutherland from the cell.
Another officer got on Sutherland’s back for about a minute as they continue to try to subdue him, telling him to stop resisting, though Sutherland didn’t appear to be moving much, video showed. Sutherland appeared limp when officers lifted him to put him into a wheelchair with restraints. An officer can be heard saying, “Is he alright?” and asks if he’s having a seizure.
Nurses came and gave medical attention to Sutherland for more than 15 minutes. A nurse at one point said that Sutherland had a pulse and was snoring. An officer said they shocked Sutherland with stun guns between six and eight times.
About 20 minutes into the video, Sutherland was surrounded by nurses, and one said he wasn’t responsive. Officers then called EMS. Nurses began pumping Sutherland’s chest. Another nurse breathed into his mouth. Nurses counted out the chest compressions, one to about 30. They got an EKG machine, meant to shock Sutherland’s heart back to life. But when they hooked it up, the machine told them “no shock advised” and to continue to do CPR.
“Push harder” the machine said.
Sutherland died at approximately 10:30 a.m. Jan. 5, according to Charleston County Coroner Bobbi Jo O’Neal.
O’Neal said a forensic autopsy determined Sutherland’s cause of death was “excited state with adverse pharmacotherapeutic effect during subdual process.” The manner of death, however, is currently “undetermined.”
Mark Keel, chief of the S.C. Law Enforcement Division, said his agency was asked to investigate the incident the day it happened, which was also the day after Graziano was sworn in as sheriff. Keel reiterated that the investigation is ongoing and said it would be inappropriate for him to comment on the case at this time.
Sutherland died at the jail after being there for just about 12 hours, according to 9th Solicitor Scarlett Wilson.
“Some members of the community have requested (or demanded) that I publicly release evidence from this ongoing investigation,” Wilson said in a statement released Tuesday. “I remind everyone that as a prosecutor at this stage, I am governed by ethics rules that prohibit me from making further public statements and disclosures beyond this advisory. “
Wilson confirmed she has briefed the S.C. Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation about Sutherland’s death.
Aftermath
As public officials released statements about the ongoing investigation, public pressure to release video footage from the jail intensified in recent days.
Activists from the ACLU of South Carolina, Charleston BLM, Black Voters Matter, and other groups gathered Thursday afternoon outside the the Charleston County courthouse to demand accountability in Sutherland’s death. Hours later, the sheriff’s department released the videos.
“Jamal Sutherland should still be alive today,” the activist groups said in a statement Friday, saying his death “represents an egregious lack of regard for the human rights of mental health patients, especially those incarcerated.”
When city leaders addressed Sutherland’s death Friday, they called for both accountability and for peace. Earlier in the week, city officials announced increased safety plans beginning this weekend around King Street, the city’s historic tourist district which was damaged last summer after a peaceful protest transformed into a riot in late May.
Asked if the city of Charleston would consider implementing a curfew, Tecklenburg affirmed he had the authority to do it and will be monitoring activity in the city.
At noon Friday, members of Sutherland’s family spoke to the media outside the jail where he died. His parents spoke of their grief and also urged the community to refrain from any violence in reaction to his death.
The family said they first watched the jail videos on Wednesday, May 5.
James Sutherland, Jamal Sutherland’s father, said it was “very disturbing” to see how his son was treated at the jail, calling the use of force “completely unnecessary.”
“Don’t make a circus of my baby’s death,” his mother, Amy, cried. “Jamal Sutherland was a great man.”
Family attorney Mark Peper said the family will get justice for Jamal.
“Justice comes in many forms. It comes through policy changes. It comes in the form of civil litigation, which is ongoing,” Peper said, confirming the legal action.
Justice also comes, Peper said, in the form of punishment and in being held accountable in the criminal system.
This story was originally published May 14, 2021 at 9:30 AM.
