The Collin County sheriff says his department and Texas Rangers are investigating the death of a man at the county jail last weekend. Marvin Scott III died after being arrested for marijuana possession in Allen last Sunday.
courtesy Alan Scaia
Sheriff Jim Skinner said Scott was showing "strange behavior" when he was being booked into the Collin County Jail. Skinner says Scott was taken to a restraint bed, but Scott became "non-responsive."
Skinner says officers called nurses and "immediately provided emergency medical attention and called an ambulance." He says Scott was pronounced dead at the hospital.
"All of our deputies and detention officers, in my opinion, are selfless people," Skinner says. "They serve because they love the communities they serve. This is just the type of people they are."
Skinner says seven detention officers have been placed on leave. He says the sheriff's department will investigate whether they followed procedure. Texas Rangers will investigate if the officers should face criminal charges in Scott's death.
"I promised Marvin Scott's family I intend to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into what happened," he says. "I'm upset. The death of this young man is a profound tragedy, and we have an obligation to uncover the full and complete truth; firm concrete and factual information."
"This investigation is neither thorough nor transparent," says Lee Merritt, the family's lawyer. "The statement he gave was neither thorough nor transparent."
Merritt says Scott had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. He says the "strange behavior" was a man having a mental health crisis.
"Every officer you speak to will tell you, they are overwhelmed with mental health crises," he says. Merritt says police officers, sheriff's deputies and detention officers are not adequately trained to handle mental health issues.
Merritt says protests will continue outside the sheriff's department in McKinney. One Community Church will host a vigil Tuesday night "to stand and pray in solidarity with the family and the community."
