DC releases more police video related to in custody death

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

DC releases more police video related to in custody death
Updated 5:13 pm, Saturday, December 19, 2015

WASHINGTON (AP) — District of Columbia officials have released additional police body camera footage capturing police's response in the death of a special education teacher taken into custody by security guards at a Washington apartment building.

Officials originally released an approximately 9-aone officer's camera earlier this week. Officials released body camera footage from a second officer Friday. Officials said earlier in the week that the footage was very similar.

The second video is slightly shorter. Both the original video and the second video show police working to revive 27-year-old Alonzo Smith, whose Nov. 1 death has been ruled a homicide. An attorney for Smith's mother said after the first video release that the footage was not particularly revealing because when officers arrived, Smith was basically "dead already."

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/DC-releases-more-police-video-related-to-in-6709849.php

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(Short article, no more at link.)

[Judi Lynn]

1. Death of Alonzo Smith, Who Was in Custody of Security Guards, Ruled Homicide

Death of Alonzo Smith, Who Was in Custody of Security Guards, Ruled Homicide

Smith, 27, died from “sudden cardiac death,” complicated by “acute cocaine toxicity while restrained,” Washington, D.C.’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner announced Monday.

By: Breanna Edwards
Posted: Dec. 14 2015 3:00 PM

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Washington, D.C., has ruled the death of a local man found unresponsive while in the custody of security guards last month a homicide, the Huffington Post reports. According to the report, a homicide ruling does not mean that a crime was committed, however.

In November the Metropolitan Police Department responded to an assault in progress in the hallway of an apartment complex in D.C. Alonzo Smith, 27, was found in the custody of security guards, handcuffed and unresponsive. He was taken to the United Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The medical examiner’s office listed the cause of death as "sudden cardiac death," complicated by "acute cocaine toxicity while restrained." "Compression of torso" was also listed under other significant conditions.

The MPD noted that the case is still under investigation. Earlier reports indicated that a witness said Smith had run into the hallway that day screaming, "Somebody help me; they're trying to kill me."

More:
http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2015/12/death_of_alonzo_smith_who_was_in_security_guard_custody_ruled_homicide.html