Video has been released in the death of a 23-year-old man who died in police custody two years ago after repeatedly telling officers he was unable to breathe.
Darren Boykin died in 2019 in Texarkana, Texas after officers arrested him as a suspect in a series of petty thefts. When confronted by officers on Aug. 29, Boykin pushed past officers and fled on foot. He was later arrested at a nearby convenience store.
Body camera footage shows him on the ground handcuffed and breathing heavily.
Texarkana Texas police officers Jerrika Weaver and Brent Hobbs, plus Sgt. William Scott, are accused of violating Boykin’s civil rights by being “deliberately indifferent” to his medical crisis.
According to a report from The Hot Springs Sentinel-Record, body camera footage clearly shows Officer Weaver repeatedly ignoring Boykin’s complaints that he can’t breathe and that he is in pain.
“You can’t call I can’t breathe after you ran forever and then you have felonies,” Weaver says. At another point in the video, Boykin asks for help, and Weaver responds, “I’m gonna help you get to the jail.”
Boykin then tells her: “Ma’am, I’m about to pass out.”
Weaver tells him to lean against the glass of the police cruiser and even tells him, “You know somebody that passes out isn’t able to stop themselves from falling forward right? Fun fact.” At this point in the footage, she is driving right past Wadley Regional Medical Center.
At the jail, Boykin has lost consciousness, and Weaver says, “And I’m not picking you up and dragging you in there. Quit playing. Let’s go. Let’s go.” She then discovers the man is unresponsive and pulls him from the car and starts CPR.
Weaver can be heard on her body camera, saying: “He said he was gonna pass out, but he is also being charged with a bunch of felonies, so it’s one of those things.”
“You know how he’s got the felony faint in the backseat? ‘Oh, I’m gonna pass out.’ He’s fine.” she asserts. “He kept saying he was tired, his legs hurt, he kept wanting to lay down. Normal stuff when you’re getting charged with felonies.”
Boykin died at 6:51 p.m. at the very same medical center that Weaver drove past. His death was declared “natural” and attributed to sickle cell trait.
A lawsuit filed by Keisha Boykin, Darren’s mother, alleges civil rights violations stemming from a lack of medical attention and alleges the three officer defendants breached their duty to provide it.
The suit is seeking actual and punitive damages, compensation for Darren Boykin’s pain, suffering and mental anguish, compensation for his mother’s mental anguish and emotional distress, as well as funeral expenses and attorney fees.
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