The family and friends of a Black man who died in the back of a Faribault, Minn., police officer's car on the way to jail gathered Thursday afternoon in Minneapolis to demand officials release police footage of the incident.
Family demands footage from in-custody death of Faribault man
About 20 family members and friends gathered at the Hennepin County Government Center to demand the BCA release footage of Jerrell Skelton.
September 15, 2023 at 12:35AM
Kenya Skelton, the sister of 36-year-old Jerrell Skelton, said she wants the footage released immediately to show what happened prior to her brother's death earlier this monthafter a traffic stop.
"I need to give his kids answers," Kenya Skelton said. "I need us to have solace, because otherwise there is no moving on."
About 20 people attended a news conference at the Hennepin County Government Center. Some held signs reading "gone too soon."
A Faribault police officer stopped Jerrell Skelton on suspicion of impaired driving just before midnight Sept. 2, the department said in a news release.
After officers stopped him, Skelton was taken into custody and an ambulance team cleared him to be taken to jail following a medical evaluation, the department said. On the way to the Rice County jail, Skelton lost consciousness and was later pronounced dead at a hospital despite efforts to save him.
The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is investigating, has not released a cause of death. The BCA in a news release last week noted Skelton had "no apparent injuries."
Officer body cameras and dash cameras captured the incident, the release said.
Honesty Nagel, the mother of two of Skelton's children, said she was upset that medical workers cleared him to go back into a police car after he repeatedly lost consciousness.
"I don't understand: If someone is coming in and out of consciousness, and you're having to pull him over going 10 miles per hour, how is he OK to go in the back of a cop car?" Nagel said.
The family also demanded that Faribault police release footage from a separate encounter Aug. 25 in which they allege police used excessive force.
Faribault Police Chief John Sherwin said Thursday that Skelton had "a number of incidents" with the department in the past year. Sherwin said he would not comment on the death further until the BCA releases its findings.
"The reason why we call the BCA is we want a transparent investigation, and that's what they've been tasked with," he said.
Two of Skelton's children cried at the news conference while demanding footage be released.
"The thing that destroys me is that I don't get to make more memories with him," DeMaria Skelton, 13, said.
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