Social Justice
Say Her Name : 22-year-old Symone Marshall Dies While in Texas Police Custody
22-year-old Symone Marshall died while in police custody and I will not let her story be swept under the rug
22-year-old Symone Marshall died while in police custody and I will not let her story be swept under the rug.
What happened to Symone Marshall?
On April 26th, Marshall and her friend was in a brutal single car accident. The car flipped several times before landing in a ditch, according to her family.
The Root.com reports police and paramedics arrived on the scene and stated Marshall and the passenger were evaluated and both refused medical treatment.
Authorities say both women were arrested and issued misdemeanor and felony charges of cocaine possession after cocaine was allegedly found in Symone’s purse. Marshall was also charged with providing a false identification, KHOU reports.
Claims denied
But Symone Marshall’s family vehemently deny those claims. Symone’s father, Wayne Marshall, stated he believed his daughter was ran off the road and she would not be in possession of an illegal substance.
“My daughter don’t do drugs. She don’t do drugs. They won’t be able to say they found drugs in her body,” Wayne told NewsOne.
“The ranger trying to tell me they don’t even see any signs of her being ran off the road,” Wayne said. “He acting like none of that is true like someone just drove themselves off the road. Just arrest her and forget who ran her off the road?”
Symone’s friend was able to post bond and was released the next day, but Marshall was unable to secure the $5,000 needed to be released so she spent the next two weeks in custody.
Symone Marshall needed medical attention
Marhsall’s family claims that Symone did ask for medical aid but instead was taken to Walker County Jail in Huntsville, TX.
“Symone consistently begged to be taken to a hospital, complained that she didn’t feel good and police refused to take her to a hospital to be evaluated by professional doctors, (even with her sister, Honey Marshall calling and requesting for them to do so) which resulted in her dying in jail two weeks later on May 10th, 2016 from a blood clot in her lung,” her family states on a GoFundMe page created to help with funeral expenses.
“My sister Symone moved to Texas for a fresh start in life. She was doing good down there, had a job, and about to buy a house. She’s a beautiful person, never been in trouble before and didn’t deserve this”, Honey Marshall told the NY Daily News.
“When I talked to her from jail, she complained her head was hurting and she kept blacking out”.
“I called the jail several times and requested them to send her to a real hospital and they wouldn’t do so”..
Sheriff’s Office on the incident
Detective Brad Fullwood of the Walker County Sheriff’s Office told the Huntsville Item that Marshall had “seen a doctor one day and a nurse the other” eight days before her death, and that she did not complain or have any physical injuries.
Honey told KHOU that officials informed her that her sister had seen a doctor in the jail, she insisted that her sister “needs to go to a real hospital.”
Symone Marshall’s death
Marshall went into convulsions on May 10 and was found unresponsive in her cell. Authorities rushed her to Huntsville Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, sparking an internal investigation and reigniting the national debate about Blacks and the criminal justice system. Her death has been referenced to Sandra Bland and Rekia Boyd, two other Black women who died in police custody.
The Texas Rangers are conducting an investigation on Marshall’s untimely death. The autopsy results are still pending, the local paper reports.
Crime & Justice
Paramedic involved in Elijah McClain’s death sentenced to probation, work release and community service
Jeremy Cooper, a former paramedic who injected Elijah McClain with a fatal dose of ketamine, has been sentenced to probation and community service.
Jeremy Cooper, a former paramedic who injected Elijah McClain with a fatal dose of ketamine, has been sentenced to probation and community service.
Paramedic Jeremy Cooper sentenced
He had faced up to three years in prison but was sentenced to four years probation, 14 months of work release and 100 hours of community service.
Cooper and another paramedic, Peter Cichuniec, were found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in December in the death of McClain, 23, who was subdued by police and injected with ketamine on August 24, 2019.
Both paramedics had pleaded not guilty to the felony charges. Cichuniec was sentenced in March to five years in prison, the minimum.
Police stop turns fatal
McClain was walking home in August 2019 when the 23-year-old Black man was confronted by police officers who forcibly restrained him. When Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec arrived, they injected him with ketamine.
He went into cardiac arrest in an ambulance a few minutes later and died three days after that.
The McClain family sued the city of Aurora for Elijah’s wrongful death and received a $15 million settlement.
Social Justice
Former high school athletic director arrested and charged with using AI to frame principal
A former athletic director of a high school was arrested by Baltimore County Police after allegedly using new technology to impersonate a principal.
A former athletic director of a high school was arrested by police in Maryland after allegedly using new technology to impersonate a principal.
Maryland principal incident
In January of this year, we reported that an audio was circulating on social media accusing Pikesville High School principal Eric Eisworth of making racist and antisemitic comments.
After an investigation, authorities concluded the audio was artificial intelligence.
Suspect arrested
Dazhon Darien, 31, was charged with disrupting school activities, after investigators determined Darien faked Eiswert’s voice and circulated the audio on social media in January, according to the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office. Darien’s nickname, DJ, was among the names mentioned in the audio clips he allegedly faked.
Maryland principal accused audio
In the audio, Eisworth allegedly claimed Black students were unable to “test their way out of a paper bag” and made “disparaging comments” about Jewish individuals and two teachers, the charging document said
“The audio clip … had profound repercussions,” police wrote in charging documents. “It not only led to Eiswert’s temporary removal from the school but also triggered a wave of hate-filled messages on social media and numerous calls to the school. The recording also caused significant disruptions for the PHS staff and students.”
Retaliation
Police say Darien made the recording in retaliation after Eisworth initiated an investigation into improper payments he made to a school athletics coach who was also his roommate. Darien is also charged with theft and retaliating against a witness.
Darien was released on $5,000 bond and waived an attorney at an initial court appearance, according to court records.
Crime & Justice
Exonerated man on a mission to rebuild his life
C.J. Rice, a man who served more than 12 years behind bars for an attempted murder he was falsely convicted of, was officially exonerated on March 18, 2024. He is now on a mission to rebuild his life.
Charles “CJ” Rice was just 17 years old when he was convicted of a crime he did not commit.
CJ Rice Exonerated
Now 30 year old Rice is using the injustice of the last 13 years to galvanize the life he almost spent behind bars after being exonerated and declared legally innocent of the crime he was convicted of in 2013 on March 18, 2024.
According to the GoFundMe, CJ wants to “embrace this opportunity” and become a paralegal.
With the help of Dream.org, the GoFundMe aims to help CJ start a new life with everything from a place to stay to clothes to wear as he builds a new future.
The CJ Rice case
CJ Rice, formally known Charles J. Rice, was convicted in a September 2011 shooting for attempted murder and sentenced to 30-60 years behind bars in 2013.
According to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, the South Philadelphia shooting left a woman identified as Latrice Johnson, a 6-year-old girl and two others injured.
Johnson called 911 after the shooting and described the suspects as two men running away in hoodies and black sweatpants but couldn’t fully identify them.
Through an initial investigation with victims in the hospital, Rice’s co-defendant, Tyler Linder, was identified as one of the shooters. Detectives interviewed Johnson while she was in the hospital and she identified 17-year-old Rice as one of the shooters running away although she hadn’t seen the teen in a few years. Rice had been friends with Johnson’s son when he was younger, according to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project.
In her description, Johnson said Rice was wearing a hoodie and claimed that she was able to see his full face and long braids poking out the side of the hood. However, Rice’s arrest photo depicted him with shorter cornrows flushed against his head. Despite this, a case against Rice and Linder was built.
According to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, among the evidence was a theory that the shooting was retaliatory, which wasn’t proven. That’s because Rice was shot and injured a few days prior. It’s alleged the suspects ran from the scene, and Rice’s counsel never used his medical records as evidence to help Rice’s case.
Rice’s case received national attention after CNN anchor Jake Tapper began reporting on it. His father, Dr. Theodore Tapper, is Rice’s former doctor and treated his injuries.
Although it was alleged that the shooters ran from the 2011 crime scene, this is something that Dr. Tapper believed Rice just physically couldn’t do at the time.
Officials believed the 2011 shooting involved gang affiliations, leading the DA’s Gun Violence Task Force to begin their investigation to see whether or not Rice could be re-tried for the shooting or to dismiss the charges in full.
This suggestion of motive and the sole faulty eyewitness identification of CJ led to his conviction on four counts for attempted murder.
A free man
Rice’s defense counsel filed a habeas petition to get CJ out of prison and have his conviction overturned.
On March 18, 2024, the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas granted the Commonwealth’s motion to dismiss all charges against Rice, officially making CJ a free man.
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