Montgomery, Ala. – The wife of a 72 -year -old veteran who was hit until death by a cellientate in a Alabama prison He filed a civil rights demand on Wednesday against three deputies working in jail, claiming that the officers ignored their help.
The lawyers of John Reed’s wife say that the agents who worked in the Macon County prison that morning in October realized the assault, but ignored their screams and the need for medical care. Reed required a wheelchair and a 24 -hour oxygen for lung disease.
The three deputies appointed as defendants entered the detention cell where Reed was injured and did not separate from the cellmate during the attack, according to the demand.
“This is one of the worst cases of penitentiary negligence that I have seen,” said civil rights lawyer Bakari Sellers, who represents Reed’s wife, Regene Brantley-Reed.
The judicial records did not list the lawyers representing the three deputies on Wednesday. The Macon County Sheriff did not respond to a phone call for comments.
Reed’s cellmate Daniel Pollard, 24, has been accused of murder in Reed’s death. His lawyer, Jennifer Tompkins, said he has serious mental health problems.
“In 17 years of criminal law, this is probably one of the worst cases I have had in the sense of mental health,” Tompkins said.
Pollard declared himself guilty of attempted murder and robbery in 2022 and was sentenced to a divided sentence of 20 years, with five to be served in jail or prison, according to his arrest records. He was released on probation in May 2024, according to a spokesman for the Alabama corrections department.
For Montgomery headquarters of Brantley-Reed, Chuck James, there are questions about why Reed, which had been arrested for alleged drunk driving, was stopped with Pollard first.
“These deputies had multiple opportunities to do the right thing and, if they had done it, John Reed would be alive,” James said.
The Macon County Sheriff’s department did not respond to requests for comments on why Pollard, who was arrested for a minor crime, was arrested in the county jail.
Tompkins said the problem goes beyond the Macon County prison.
“The mental health system in Alabama is so broken that we are not receiving mental health treatment quick enough to prevent crime,” Tompkins said. “We are creating a bad environment not only for other inmates but also for jailers.”
Brantley-Reed said she was waiting outside the jail with less than $ 300 to rescue her husband while the beating happened. She didn’t know that something was going wrong until she saw the lifeguards get to jail, she said. An administrator told her that her husband was dead shortly after.
Reed’s beating was so severe that his wife had to bring photographs of him to the funeral director to be able to rebuild his face for the funeral.
Brantley-Reed said there was not a day in its 16-year relationship when her husband did not make her laugh. Now, his 95 -year -old mother has dementia and cries every day when he asks for his son, just to be reminded that he is dead.
“It was so unexpected and so crazy how it happened that sometimes I can’t even grab it,” said Brantley-Reed.
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Riddle is a member of Associated Press’s body/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America It is a non -profit national service program that places journalists in local writing rooms to inform about undercover issues.
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