PRISON VID PUSH
Kin seek info on pepper-sprayed inmate death
The family of an inmate who died at Brooklyn’s federal jail after being pepper-sprayed by guards is demanding the lockup turn over surveillance video documenting the final moments of his life.
Jamel Floyd, 35, died June 3 after correction officers pepper-sprayed him in his cell at the Metropolitan Detention Center when he began “breaking the cell door window with a metal object,” according to the federal Bureau of Prisons.
“The BOP must act swiftly to release Mr. Floyd’s medical and institutional records to his family without further delay, including the video taken of the use of force against him,” Floyd’s family said in a statement Tuesday.
The family planned to gather for Floyd’s funeral in Hempstead, L.I., Tuesday.
The cause of Floyd’s death still has not been determined by the city’s medical examiner.
Floyd, who had been jailed since 2007 for a home invasion in Nassau County, was set to be released from custody this year.
“Everything was lining up for the next part of my brother’s life. He was so close to getting out and then they took him away from us,” said Floyd’s brother, Ramel Floyd.
Floyd’s death came just weeks after another inmate at the jail, Kenneth Houck, 44, died mysteriously at a nearby hospital. The cause of Houck’s death has not been determined by the medical examiner, either.
Rep. Nydia Velázquez, who represents the neighborhood encompassing the Sunset Park jail, called for a “complete and swift investigation” into Floyd’s death.
“Time and again, MDC has exhibited lack of accountability and allowed conditions that endanger the lives of those detained there. The recent death of Jamel Floyd fits this pattern, and initial review suggests it could have been prevented,” she said in a statement.
The Prisons Bureau did not say whether it would release medical records or video of the encounter that led to Floyd’s death.