A jury in Savannah, Ga., on Friday cleared two former Chatham County Sheriff’s deputies of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Matthew Ajibade, a 22-year-old mentally ill college student, who died earlier this year in police custody, according to CNN.
Jason Kenny, 31, and his former supervisor, Cpl. Maxine Evans, 56, were found guilty of lesser charges. Kenny was convicted of cruelty to an inmate. Evans was convicted of perjury and public records fraud for falsifying a report. A third defendant, Gregory Brown, who was a nurse at the jail, was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter on Tuesday, and convicted of making a false statement, the report says.
The decision came after jurors reviewed disturbing police surveillance video of the night Ajibade was taken into custody after a domestic disturbance call at a gas station. “The video from January 1 included a more-than-one-minute clip showing a sheriff’s deputy using a stun gun on Ajibade multiple times near his groin while he was in his underwear, restrained and motionless in a chair,” the report says.
Ajibade’s family said he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was having a medical emergency at the time of his arrest and confinement, the report says. His cousin told CNN that he was not surprised by the verdict, which came after an 8-day trial.
Source: The Root | LYNETTE HOLLOWAY
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