JACKSONVILLE - The City of Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and five law enforcement officers were accused in federal court of wrongfully killing a father of four after he was arrested at a convenience store.
The complaint was filed on May 2 by plaintiff Jerry Lynette Clark, the mother of the decedent, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
Defendants in the case include the City of Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, Sheriff Mike Williams and Officers Matthew Reddish, Stuart Maddox and Kathryn Youngblood.
The officers were called to the Lane Avenue Food Store where the decedent Jalen Mays had been in an altercation with another customer. The officers had previously encountered Mays already previously in the day, according to the suit, and should have known from that encounter that he was in mental distress.
At the convenience store, the officers determined that Mays needed to be admitted for his mental crisis under the Baker Act. Mays was handcuffed and pinned on his stomach with his legs folded by defendant Maddox, according to the suit, and Mays repeatedly cried for help.
He was pinned to the ground with his airflow restricted for over six minutes and went into respiratory arrest, which led to cardiac arrest that led to his death two days later, the suit says.
The defendants are charged with multiple constitutional rights violations, negligence and battery.
The plaintiff is represented by the Hevia Law Firm of Coral Gables.