72-year-old veteran beaten to death in AL jail as cops ‘let it happen,’ attorneys say
A 72-year-old disabled veteran was “viciously” beaten to death by a cellmate at an Alabama jail, and deputies failed to stop it, according to a lawsuit.
John Reed was booked into the Macon County Jail on a suspected driving under the influence charge, then was fatally attacked by 24-year-old Daniel Pollard the morning he was set to be released, attorneys said in a Jan. 29 news release shared with McClatchy News.
Now, Reed’s wife, Regene Brantley-Reed, has filed a civil rights action lawsuit against three Macon County sheriff’s deputies saying they failed to look out for Reed’s safety and ignored his cries for help during the attack.
McClatchy News reached out to the Macon County Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 30 but did not receive an immediate response. Court documents did not show the attorneys representing the deputies.
Reed — who used a cane, motorized wheelchair and 24-hour oxygen — was placed into a holding cell with Pollard, a convicted felon with a history of violent crime, on Oct. 22 for reasons that are unclear, attorneys said.
Pollard started to threaten and beat Reed, according to the lawsuit. Deputies entered the holding cell after a trustee notified them of Reed’s cries for help but then left without providing medical assistance or stopping the violence, attorneys said.
Pollard was charged with murder in connection with the incident, AL.com reported. However, it’s unclear if the deputies faced any consequences.
“Failing to place a frail and disabled man like John Reed in protective custody is bad. Putting him in a holding cell with a violent criminal is worse. But to know he’s being beaten, to know his life is at risk and to do nothing is beyond inexcusable,” attorney Bakari Sellers said in the release.
Around 9:30 a.m. that morning, as Reed’s wife and mother waited outside to pay his less than $300 bail, Pollard continued his attack on Reed until he died, according to the lawsuit.
Brantley-Reed and her mother-in-law waited outside for nearly two hours until authorities told them that Reed had been killed, attorneys said.
“They wouldn’t even let me see my husband’s body,” Brantley-Reed said in the release. “They knew that man was attacking John. They knew his life was in danger but they let it happen and, when it was all over, he was beaten so badly they said I wouldn’t even recognize him.”
The lawsuit is asking for compensatory, actual, punitive and consequential damages as a result of the incident.
“Mr. Reed was a God-fearing man, a disabled veteran who loved his family and served his nation honorably and they did nothing,” attorney Chuck James said in the release. “Mr. Reed deserved better.”
Macon County is about a 40-mile drive east of Montgomery.
