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EL PASO, TEXAS — The sudden death of Imperial native and Fort Bliss, Texas, Army Sgt. James Brown, who died while serving a weekend sentence at the El Paso County Jail, was determined to have been caused by sickle cell crisis, a finding with which his loved ones disagree.
“My son didn’t have sickle cell; he didn’t,” Brown’s mother, Dinetta Scott, said. “It doesn’t add up.”
Brown, 26, checked into the county jail July 13 voluntarily to serve a two-day sentence for driving while intoxicated. Brown was supposed to be released by July 15. He died July 14 while in jail custody after being injected with a sedative meant to calm him after he experienced what El Paso County sheriff’s authorities told Scott was “combative” behavior, by hitting the walls.
The manner of Brown’s death was considered of natural cause brought about by “the strenuous physical activity while being subdued after he became extremely agitated in jail,” reported Juan U. Contin chief medical examiner for El Paso County, in his post-mortem report.
Much of the family’s disagreement with the findings comes because family members feel the examiner failed to fully examine all possible options for Brown’s death, Scott explained.
“He only checked for one drug, but the hospital tested for two,” Scott said. “If you’re a doctor you do everything.”
The report found 14 nanograms per milliliter of Lorazepam, a medication used to relieve anxiety by slowing activity in the brain to allow relaxation, within Brown’s system. However the findings also stated that due to insufficient quantity, a test to examine Haloperidol, a medication used to treat psychotic disorders and treat severe behavioral problems such as explosive, aggressive behavior or hyperactivity was not conducted, according to mortem report.
“I think they just said sickle cell because it is more prominent in African Americans, but I know my son and he didn’t have the disease,” Scott maintained.
Scott’s attorney will be sending the El Paso County medical examiner’s report to a forensic pathologist to further analyze the findings.
“I want to know what really happen to my son, because if you know my son you know it doesn’t make sense,” Scott said.
Staff Writer Celeste Alvarez can be reached at 760-337-3442 or at calvarez@ivpressonline.com
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