It has been 3 1/2 months since the death of Sheneque Proctor
And still we have only the police version of events. There has been no video released to the family. There are still more questions than answers. And no one seems to care
This case is obvious neglect by the police, at the least in my eyes. This 18 year old mother of an infant son was left to die in police custody. Sheneque was, according to a call to her mother, "slammed" against the police car before being cuffed and "thrown" into the car. We know she was pepper sprayed at least twice, supposedly because her cuffs slipped off. We know she had asthma and complained to police about problems breathing.
Sheneque was doing drugs but it seems that she was not so high as to cause any concern to the cops. She was "snoring loudly" but that didn't cause them concern even knowing she suffered from asthma.
Though we don't know at what point she took the drugs, with her death, fewer than 12 hours after her being booked, she would have shown symptoms of overdosing at some point before they locked her in a cell and left her to die.
There's absolutely no excuse for the just turned 18 year old, in custody for just a short time, about 12 hours, to be found dead in the cell. Even if nothing overt happened to cause her death, there is neglect on the part of the police. The fact she had asthma, was pepper sprayed and what should have been obvious intoxication if she actually did OD, medical attention should have been sought prior to her death.
I have been checking on this every week or so for updates to see if the family has ever been given the video promised. Though there are a few articles in online publications like the Guardian, Daily Kos and a few others, if you Google her name under "news" and go back just a day, a week or even a month, there is absolutely nothing. Nothing about the young, black, mother of an infant son, who died in police custody fewer than 13 hours after being arrested.
Sheneque's death has been ruled a drug overdose. But we have nothing except the word of the police as to when they checked on her, why no medical attention was given when she complained of problems breathing and informed them she had asthma, whether or not she was sufficiently decontaminated of pepper spray, if at all, and the video tape, promised to her parents has yet to be released.
It is possible that the police are actually telling the truth in this. However, the fact that the video hasn't been released after 3 1/2 months makes me doubt it.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jan/09/black-alabama-teenager-died-police-cell-sheneque-proctor
http://countercurrentnews.com/2015/01/police-refuse-to-explain-how-young-african-american-woman-died-in-police-custody/
