DA clears police in May death at jail

Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater has cleared officers of any legal wrongdoing in the May death of a 56-year-old Black man who died following a struggle with officers at the Oklahoma County jail.

Olain Jefferson Jr., 56, of Oklahoma City died May 14 after he was taken to the Oklahoma County jail and became involved in a struggle with officers.

“After studying the investigations and the ME's (medical examiner's) report, I have determined that NO CRIME WAS COMMITTED,” Prater said in an email sent Monday to Oklahoma City Police Chief Wade Gourley and Oklahoma County Sheriff P.D.Taylor.

“I have also determined that Olain Jefferson's death was not the result of any action by any individual or group of individuals other than Mr. Jefferson himself,” Prater wrote. “That includes any employee of the Oklahoma City Police Department, the Oklahoma

County Sheriff's Office or any medical personnel who attempted to assist Mr. Jefferson in the ambulance, at the hospital or in the jail.”

All personnel involved in the incident are cleared for duty, as the police chief and sheriff see fit, Prater stated.

A list of demands made in June by Black Lives Matter included the immediate public release of arrest records in the case as well as body cam footage taken by all police involved in his arrest.

A spokeswoman for the police department said employees are in the process of preparing body cam videos for release now that the investigation is complete.

A summary autopsy report released previously said Jefferson likely died because a blood clot moved into his lungs.

Additional details were contained in the full autopsy report released Thursday, including that Jefferson had a spit hood over his head when officers brought him to the jail.

Spit hoods are mesh bags that officers sometimes put over the heads of combative individuals while making an arrest to protect themselves from being spit upon or bitten.

Use of spit hoods has at times created controversy, including earlier this month when body cam footage was released showing Rochester, New York, police placed a spit hood over Daniel Prude during his deadly March arrest.

While the safety of spit hoods has been hotly debated, the Oklahoma City autopsy report on Jefferson does not indicate that the spit hood contributed to his death.

The report indicates Jefferson had the hallucinogen phencyclidine (PCP) in his system and was arrested after assaulting a nurse at Integris Southwest Medical Center and becoming combative with police. Jefferson had gone to the hospital complaining of shortness of breath, cough and chest tightness, the autopsy report said.

After being transported to the jail, Jefferson initially was placed prone on the floor. He became uncooperative with officers when they tried to place him in a wheelchair, the report says.

The report indicates that after a brief struggle, Jefferson became unresponsive.

An Oklahoma City Police Department report said Jefferson died in custody after a “minor use of force.”

Medical personnel used a defibrillator and attempted other life saving measures before Jefferson was taken by ambulance to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The autopsy lists “bilateral pulmonary thrombo emboli due to deep vein thrombosis of right leg” as the likely cause of death.

“In addition, his underlying severe heart disease also carries a risk of sudden death,” the autopsy said. “In this case, it is not known to what extent the PCP intoxication and physical exertion during a struggle played a role in his death but they at least likely exacerbated his underlying health conditions.”

Jefferson's body showed evidence of “non-lethal trauma,” including multiple abrasions and bruises and hemorrhaging beneath his scalp and frontal skull, the autopsy indicates.