Video shows detailed accounts of what happened at jail involving man who died

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office released hours of video footage involving the death of Jamal Sutherland who died at the Al Cannon Detention Center on the morning of Jan. 5, 2021.

We went through every piece of video released and created a closer and detailed look at what happened based on the videos provided by the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office which is made up of video cameras located throughout the center as well as body cameras worn by center personnel.

The jail surveillance video begins by showing Sutherland arriving at the Al Cannon Detention Center around 8:15 p.m. on Jan. 4. Several officers can be seen with him in the processing area and at least one person from the jail medical staff in blue scrubs.

A video shows that it does not look like the medical worker ever talks to Sutherland but walks by him several times as he gets more and more agitated. Officers then check him for weapons, pat him down, then take his finger prints.

The video shows Sutherland speaking with one of the officers and cursing at him. Sutherland also says,”The illuminati is after me. I am the number one prospect. The elite have been watching me. I am a super human.”

Sutherland’s family has said that he had bipolar schizophrenia.

Officers can be seen removing his jacket and walk him away from processing and down the hall where he also begins speaking to officers.

A deputy’s body camera clicks on about 13 hours later around 9:15 a.m. on Jan. 5. Deputies are here to take Sutherland to bond court.

“You gotta go down and see the judge,” a deputy can be heard telling Sutherland. They tell him if he does not comply they will use force.

The deputies are then heard telling Sutherland to come to the door and put his hand through a flap. Sutherland then can be heard saying “Hallelujah” repeatedly.

As Sutherland yells, Deputy Lindsay Fickett is focused on Sutherland’s hands as an officer asks Fickett if Sutherland has a spoon in his hand to which Fickett replies,”Yeah.”

Officers then order Sutherland to drop the spoon and come to the door. They order him to drop the spoon again and tell him they will use force. This is where things escalate.

Deputy Brian Houle sprays an irritant into the cell and Sutherland coughs and gags. He still doesn’t come out of the cell instead wrapping a blanket around his head. The deputies then fire a taser at Sutherland who falls to the ground.

An officer then can be seen attempting to handcuff Sutherland and telling him to loosen up. As Sutherland says “Officer” Sutherland is tased and he can be heard screaming. More tasing and more screaming can be heard.

Fickett is heard ordering Sutherland to put his hands behind his back at which point Sutherland says,”I can’t breathe.”

Officers eventually get Sutherland’s hands behind his back and pull a spit hood over his face. The video shows them drag him out of the cell, and at this point Sutherland’s legs appear to be still be moving.

The video shows officers pull Sutherland up into a wheelchair and handcuff him again. A medical staff member can be seen arriving and checking his pulse. About a minute later, they pull Sutherland out of the wheelchair and onto the ground.

In the video, there is audio of Houle explaining to the medical staff what transpired.

“He was tased…I don’t know how many times, 3 or 4 by me…3 or 4 by her,” Houle said. “He got tased about 6-8 times at least.”

One medical worker uses a stethoscope to listen to Sutherland’s chest. Then the compressions start. It’s been about ten minutes now since he was dragged from his cell. Medical worker after worker can be seen taking turns with CPR.

Eight minutes later, first responders arrive with a stretcher and hop in to help with CPR. After almost 15 minutes of compressions total, they stop, start packing up medical gear and cover Sutherland’s body with a blanket.

Around 10:30 a.m., Sutherland was pronounced dead right outside the jail cell he entered just 13 hours before.

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