Video shows youth center staff holding black teen face down before his death | Kansas

Surveillance video shows a 17-year-old black man struggling with staff at a Wichita youth center last fall before his death, which followed being pinned face down for more than 30 minutes.

Late on Friday, Sedgwick County released 18 video clips of what happened before Cedric Lofton was rushed to a hospital on September 24. He died two days later.

The release of the clips followed Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett’s announcement that Kansas “stand your groundThe law prevented him from pressing charges because the staff members were protecting themselves.

Bennett said he didn’t know if a manslaughter charge was warranted, but concluded that it was not.

Sedgwick County collapsed web page after the video was posted.

But several areas television stations posted clips of some of the approximately two hours of footage, which did not include audio. The Wichita Eagle posted an hour and a half long video.

A video shows several officers taking Cedric to the Sedgwick County Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center while he is restrained in something called a bandage, a device made up of a safety shoulder harness, leg restraints and leg straps. ankles.

The sheriff’s office describes it as a way to restrain a person who is “out of control” from hurting themselves or others.

According to Bennett’s report, Cedric had become paranoid and hallucinating.

His adoptive father said the situation worsened after the teenager attended his grandmother’s funeral. At the urging of a foster officer, the foster parent took Cedric to a mental health provider, but he walked away.

When Cedric returned home, foster officials told the foster parent to call the police. But the 5-foot-10, 135-pound teen resisted officers who responded to the home and assaulted at least one, according to Bennett’s report.

The bandage was removed at the youth center, according to Bennett’s report. An unrestrained Cedric walked out of his holding cell and tried to grab a computer monitor from the admission desk.

The video shows him resisting attempts to put him back in the holding cell. At one point, he can be seen punching an employee in the head.

The video shows the detention workers pushing Cedric into the cell and more employees show up to help. The camera does not show a close angle of what is happening inside the cell.

Bennett’s report says staff shackled Cedric’s ankles and placed him face down on the floor. His report said the teen was “murmuring” at times, repeated that he was Jesus, and said staff should kill themselves and he would “put a spell on them.”

Staff noticed that he was not breathing after they called for him to be taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation.

KSNT reported that after the teen spent about 30 minutes face down in the cell, video appears to show workers flipping him onto his back. They eventually start CPR and the paramedics arrive.