‘We want justice.’ Family of man who died in CMPD custody demands external investigation
Family and friends of Harold Jermaine Easter, who died Sunday after his arrest in Charlotte, demanded transparency on Tuesday and said they want an external law enforcement investigation into his death.
Easter’s death is currently under investigation by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police. Four officers and a sergeant are on administrative leave while an internal review proceeds.
Easter’s loved ones on Tuesday said there are many unanswered questions about what led to his death.
“We will not allow this to be just swept under the rug,” said Gemini Boyd, a friend of Easter’s. “We want justice for this family and this community.”
Boyd is also a community activist in Charlotte who works with formerly incarcerated people and who has advocated for changes within the criminal justice system.
Easter, 41, was arrested last Thursday morning and died on Sunday, according to police. He leaves behind a fiance, four children, siblings, cousins and a community of people who cared for him, Easter’s loved ones said Tuesday. His fiance Valecia Mobley said Easter had a “heart of gold” and loved his family.
“Words can’t really express the type of person he was,” his sister Andrell Mackey said. “I miss him.”
Easter fell unconscious while inside a police substation where he was being interviewed and processed for arrest, according to a statement from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Officials have said officers rendered medical aid to him before he was taken to the hospital by Medic.
One of Easter’s cousins, Tyrone Sifford, said his family was told by hospital doctors that Easter died from a heart attack. Sifford said his family members were told Easter had one heart attack while inside the sub-station and another one while he was being transported to the hospital.
CMPD officials have said he experienced a medical emergency after his arrest and lost consciousness while in police custody but declined the detail what kind of medical issue Easter experienced.
Police have not said how long Easter was in their custody before he fell ill or whether he was alone or accompanied by officers at the time he lost consciousness.
His arrest happened on the same block as Easter’s grandmother’s house on Burton Street, where he spent a lot of time, according to Frances Berry, 71, a neighbor.
Easter was arrested around noon but Sifford said his family didn’t know that Easter was in the hospital until later that evening.
“It hurt us to our heart because we really didn’t know what was going on,” he said.
Standing outside the police substation where Easter was held, Boyd called on the chief of police and city officials to be transparent over what led to Easter’s death and whether he received medical attention quickly enough.
“He was a brother, son, father, uncle, cousin and a best friend to a lot of people,” Boyd said.
Behind him, a woman began to cry. Community members, including some who didn’t know Easter but are angry over his death, held posters calling for justice.
An investigation ongoing
Easter was arrested on drug and traffic charges near Whisnant Street and Burton Street, just north of uptown, after a traffic stop. Before the arrest, officers had “observed a suspected drug transaction,” according to CMPD. Easter was pulled over during the traffic stop, police have said.
Easter was driving the car and officers have said they found him in possession of cocaine and marijuana, according to CMPD’s statement from Friday.
CMPD’s homicide detectives and internal affairs bureau are separately investigating the death to determine whether their actions were consistent with CMPD policies and procedures. Placing officers on administrative leave during internal investigations is standard procedure for CMPD.
One of the officers placed on leave, Brentley Vinson, was the officer who shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott in September 2016. Scott’s death set off two days of demonstrations across the city. Vinson was later cleared by then-Mecklenburg District Attorney Andrew Murray, who ruled that the use of deadly force was legally justified.
The other officers placed on administrative leave were Michael Benfield, Michael Joseph, Shon Sheffield and Sergeant Nicolas Vincent.
