Cedric Lofton Wiki
Cedric Lofton Biography
Who was Cedric Lofton ?
The death of a Kansas teenager was ruled a homicide months after he was left face down and handcuffed following his arrest for becoming ‘aggressive’ towards police officers who were called to his foster home to respond to his agitated behavior.
Cedric Lofton, 17, of Wichita, Kansas, died on September 26 in a Sedgwick County juvenile jail where he was taken after ‘running away from his foster home, returning and then exhibiting’ aggressive and erratic behavior ‘towards her foster family, one said the autopsy report according to the Washington Post.
He ran away on September 21 due to a ‘mental health crisis’ and returned on September 24.
Investigation
The teenager seemed paranoid, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said. Officers tried to convince him to voluntarily seek mental health treatment, but detained him after he assaulted officers, according to the statement.
After a fight, he was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a law enforcement officer.
Lofton was put in a cell at a Sedgwick County youth center for 90 minutes. When brought to the lobby for processing, he became “uncooperative and agitated,” according to KBI. He struck an employee on the head, prompting officers to handcuff him and place him face down on the ground after “a lengthy physical struggle.”
Lofton was released from his cell around 4:20 a.m. and was placed in the prone position at 5.08 p.m.
He calmed down and even fell asleep, and “snored occasionally,” according to the medical examiner’s report. But minutes later, the teenager had no pulse.
Staff gave him chest compressions and called emergency services. Lofton was pronounced dead two days later at the hospital.
Employees involved in restraining him were placed on administrative leave during the investigation.
Death
The death of the teenager was declared a homicide on December 21 by medical examiner Timothy S. Gorrill.
“In my opinion, Cedric Lofton died as a result of complications from sustained cardiopulmonary arrest after physical struggle while he was immobilized in the prone position,” Gorrill said in the report.
“The way of death is homicide.”
Lofton’s death has sparked a discussion about the face-down deaths, which resurfaced after George Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis.
The prone position can cause shortness of breath and limit or cut off oxygen supply to the heart and brain, the Washington Post reported.
Several medical experts testified at Derek Chauvin’s trial that he was a factor in Floyd’s death. Chauvin was the Minneapolis police officer who kept Floyd face down while he arrested him; he was sentenced to death and is serving a 22-year prison sentence.
The Lofton family’s attorney, Steven Hart, said authorities “should only know from the Floyd case” that the position increased the risk.
That is what is equally disturbing. Authorities cannot plausibly suggest that putting someone in the prone position is safe. It’s a conscious disregard for safety and his life, ” Hart said.
Alon Steinberg, chief of cardiology at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, California, told The New York Times in October that “people die all the time and we are doing nothing about it.”
He also accused law enforcement agencies of misclassifying fatal police violence.
Despite debate over the controversial restraining position, the National Association of Medical Examiners said the position does not automatically amount to “intent to kill.”
Contrary to multiple public comments since the publication of the autopsy report prepared by the Sedgwick County Regional Center for Forensic Sciences, the determination that the manner of death was ‘homicide’ does not reflect a legal determination by the pathologist with regarding the feasibility of criminal charges.
Whether or not criminal charges
Whether or not criminal charges can be brought is a separate legal determination to be made by the District Attorney’s Office based on the laws of the state of Kansas and evidence collected by law enforcement, ” said the county district attorney. from Sedgwick, Marc Bennett, to The Washington Post.
A former New York City police officer said officers “do their best” and don’t always “know what they’re doing.”
‘They are often outmatched. The police themselves who are frequently involved in the use of force. When you ask them what they are doing, they don’t know what they are doing. They’re doing the best they can, that’s what they’re doing, ” Eugene O’Donnell told the Washington Post.
However, he said that he was ‘surprised that [death] doesn’t happen more often’.
That investigation is still ongoing and is expected to be completed next month.
Cedric Lofton Quick and Facts
- Cedric Lofton, 17, of Wichita, Kansas, died on September 26 after being restrained in a prone position in a juvenile detention center
- His death was ruled a homicide by the Sedgwick County Medical Examiner
- Lofton was taken to the detention center after returning home from running away on September 21 and exhibited ‘aggressive behavior’
- He is said to have run away after having a ‘mental health crisis’ but was taken to the juvenile facility after he assaulted officers
- At the facility, he was released from his cell to use the restroom where he allegedly hit an employee on the head and had a ‘lengthy’ fight with staff
- He put in the prone position and minutes later he died
- His death has sparked a conversation about the prone position – also a factor in George Floyd’s death – and the risk it carries
Source: WikiSoon
