This article will carry news of random deaths of mentally challenged Americans. Please come back regularly as the death toll grows pretty rapidly. If you learn about individuals who should be added, please comment about them in the comments field below. The 2014 deaths will be added to this article. If we include prior years, the article will be much, much too long, but please feel free to add deaths from prior years to the comments field.
LAPD officers fatally shot an unarmed, mentally challenged black man, Ezell Ford, 25, in his back just days after Michael Brown was murdered by police in Missouri. Witnesses conveyed what happened:
Aug. 11, 2014 -- "They laid him out, and for whatever reason, they shot him in the back, knowing, mentally, he has complications. Every officer in this area, from the Newton Division, knows that—that this child has mental problems," the man said. "The excessive force … there was no purpose for it. The multiple shootings in the back while he’s laying down? No. Then when the mom comes, they don’t try to console her … they pull the billy clubs out."
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/08/unarmed_black_man_ezell_ford_shot_by_police_in_la.html
June 15, 2014 - Two Dallas police officers on leave after mentally ill man shot, killed ~ DALLAS — A 38-year-old man was shot and killed in the doorway of his mother's Oak Cliff home Saturday morning by the very people called to help him. Investigators are reviewing video from body cameras the officers were wearing at the time of the incident. Sources say it's the first Dallas police shooting captured by body cameras.
"My neighbor said when she got here he was face down in a pool of blood HANDCUFFED," said Harrison, Jason Harrison's brother.
“I just really wish that he could have got the help that we've really been trying to get for him so that maybe it could have had a different outcome,” Harrison said. “We'll never know.”
FAMILY CALLED 911 FOR HELP WITH THEIR SPECIAL NEEDS DAUGHTER; COPS SHOWED UP AND SHOT HER DEAD ~ June 5, 2014 - Neighbors claim 18-year-old Yanira Serrano was shot in her back. The victim's brother, Tiny Serrano, told reporters that the family called 911 requesting paramedics because his sister had not taken her medication. “Instead they decided to send a deputy to the house,” he said.
http://www.infowars.com/family-calls-911-for-help-with-special-needs-daughter-cops-show-up-and-shoot-her-dead/
On January 13, James Embry, a mentally ill inmate, died by starvation in Kentucky State Penitentiary. According to the report of the internal investigation, Embry stopped taking medications for anxiety in May 2013. Seven months later, he told the lead prison psychologist, Jean Hinkebein, on Dec. 3 that he felt anxious and paranoid and wanted to restart those medications. But the psychologist concluded Embry didn't have any significant mental health issues even though Embry repeatedly talked about wanting to hurt himself. Hinkebein and an associate considered his comments vague, and his request for medication was denied. Soon after that, Embry stopped eating. Read the entire AP article about Embry's demise at
Another one is gone already ! "Homeless Man Falls To His Death From Skid Row Rooftop After Police Taser Him" ~ Carlos Ocana, 54, a transient whose friends said he had mental health problems, was killed by LAPD officers and a SWAT team. The homeless man died after falling from a rooftop after he was Tasered by police officers. His death in May hadn't received much attention, but downtown residents and supporters showed up to a community meeting on July 2, 2014, demanding officers to change the way they treat the mentally ill on Skid Row. This comes on the heels of an LAPD officer describing Skid Row as being in a "mental health state of emergency" and an "outdoor asylum without walls."
http://laist.com/2014/07/03/homeless_man_falls_to_his_death.php
Chicago jailers laughed while fatally tasing Phillip Coleman, a mentally ill man, 16 times. CHICAGO, IL — An investigation regarding the in-custody death of a mentally ill man has revealed that police tasered him a total of 16 times while shackled. Video shows that police used the taser as a compliance tool in a jail cell and were laughing during the incident. The man was also tased repeatedly as he was taken to court and then to the hospital, until he died. Coleman's father put his own body between his son and police guns during Coleman's lunacy arrest. "I told them [police] that my son was having an emotional breakdown, and could they please take him to the hospital,” recalled Percy, himself a retired police chief. “And that’s when one of the officers said, ‘We do not do hospitals, we do jail.’ Unbelievable.”
http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/philip-coleman/
Prison Reform Movement published an article focused on inmate deaths in Florida.
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
3 more Florida inmate deaths prompt 3 more investigations
Inmate’s gassing death detailed in Florida DOC whistle-blower complaint
Prisoner: I cleaned up skin of inmate scalded in shower; human-rights groups call for federal intervention
Under fire, Florida prisons changing policy on death investigations
2 years later, Florida keeps lid on prison death details
After latest death, Florida prison system faces more scrutiny
Staff at a Miami-Dade prison tormented, abused mentally ill inmates, former worker says
Behind bars, a brutal and unexplained death
LAPD officers fatally shot an unarmed, mentally challenged black man, Ezell Ford, 25, in his back just days after Michael Brown was murdered by police in Missouri. Witnesses conveyed what happened:
Aug. 11, 2014 -- "They laid him out, and for whatever reason, they shot him in the back, knowing, mentally, he has complications. Every officer in this area, from the Newton Division, knows that—that this child has mental problems," the man said. "The excessive force … there was no purpose for it. The multiple shootings in the back while he’s laying down? No. Then when the mom comes, they don’t try to console her … they pull the billy clubs out."
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/08/unarmed_black_man_ezell_ford_shot_by_police_in_la.html
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June 15, 2014 - Two Dallas police officers on leave after mentally ill man shot, killed ~ DALLAS — A 38-year-old man was shot and killed in the doorway of his mother's Oak Cliff home Saturday morning by the very people called to help him. Investigators are reviewing video from body cameras the officers were wearing at the time of the incident. Sources say it's the first Dallas police shooting captured by body cameras.
"My neighbor said when she got here he was face down in a pool of blood HANDCUFFED," said Harrison, Jason Harrison's brother.
“I just really wish that he could have got the help that we've really been trying to get for him so that maybe it could have had a different outcome,” Harrison said. “We'll never know.”
This is an excerpt from the full article at the url below:
http://www.khou.com/news/texas-news/2-Dallas-police-officers-on-leave-after-mentally-ill-man-shot-killed-263216691.html
Jason Harrison had only one prior arrest when charged with harassment of a public servant in January 2014.
http://www.txopenreports.com/records/23496585/jason++harrison
http://www.khou.com/news/texas-news/2-Dallas-police-officers-on-leave-after-mentally-ill-man-shot-killed-263216691.html
Jason Harrison had only one prior arrest when charged with harassment of a public servant in January 2014.
http://www.txopenreports.com/records/23496585/jason++harrison
********
FAMILY CALLED 911 FOR HELP WITH THEIR SPECIAL NEEDS DAUGHTER; COPS SHOWED UP AND SHOT HER DEAD ~ June 5, 2014 - Neighbors claim 18-year-old Yanira Serrano was shot in her back. The victim's brother, Tiny Serrano, told reporters that the family called 911 requesting paramedics because his sister had not taken her medication. “Instead they decided to send a deputy to the house,” he said.
http://www.infowars.com/family-calls-911-for-help-with-special-needs-daughter-cops-show-up-and-shoot-her-dead/
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James Kenneth Embry
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Another one is gone already ! "Homeless Man Falls To His Death From Skid Row Rooftop After Police Taser Him" ~ Carlos Ocana, 54, a transient whose friends said he had mental health problems, was killed by LAPD officers and a SWAT team. The homeless man died after falling from a rooftop after he was Tasered by police officers. His death in May hadn't received much attention, but downtown residents and supporters showed up to a community meeting on July 2, 2014, demanding officers to change the way they treat the mentally ill on Skid Row. This comes on the heels of an LAPD officer describing Skid Row as being in a "mental health state of emergency" and an "outdoor asylum without walls."
http://laist.com/2014/07/03/homeless_man_falls_to_his_death.php
http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/philip-coleman/
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
3 more Florida inmate deaths prompt 3 more investigations
Inmate’s gassing death detailed in Florida DOC whistle-blower complaint
Prisoner: I cleaned up skin of inmate scalded in shower; human-rights groups call for federal intervention
Under fire, Florida prisons changing policy on death investigations
2 years later, Florida keeps lid on prison death details
After latest death, Florida prison system faces more scrutiny
Staff at a Miami-Dade prison tormented, abused mentally ill inmates, former worker says
Behind bars, a brutal and unexplained death
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Paragraph 1 repeated: This article will carry news of random deaths of mentally challenged Americans. Please come back regularly as the death toll grows pretty rapidly. If you learn about individuals who should be added, please comment about them in the comments field below. The 2014 deaths will be added to this article. If we include prior years, the article will be much, much too long, but please feel free to add deaths from prior years to the comments field.
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Thank you for giving Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill.
Mary Neal, director
Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill ("AIMI")
AIMI's broadcast on Blogtalkradio, 9pm PDT on Wednesdays
Website about my brother: Wrongful Death of Larry Neal
Follow our "Dog Justice for Mentally Ill" blog
It would be illegal to keep a dog in a tight space 23 hours a day and gas or Taser him for barking. It would be illegal to put a dog in deadly restraint for control. This happens to mentally ill Americans routinely in the nation's jails and prisons. What happened to Larry Neal?
Mentally Ill Americans Need Dog Justice. Treat mental illness medically, not legally. Please advocate for your congresspersons to pass H.R.3717 - The "Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act." Try to elect people who support human rights and justice for all.
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