An autopsy report issued Monday determined that the death of a Black Kansas teenager who died while being restrained by multiple correctional officers at a juvenile detention center was ruled a homicide.
According to the report, Cedric Lofton, 17, died of “complications of cardiopulmonary arrest sustained after physical struggle while restrained in the prone position.”
Lofton died two days after being arrested for battery against police officers in Wichita on Sept. 26. As many as five employees were involved in his restraint at a juvenile detention facility in Sedgwick County, authorities have said.
In an email sent on Monday, lawyers for Lofton’s family said the autopsy confirms what the video from inside the jail shows – that the officers “unjustifiably and with excessive and unreasonable force pinned Cedric to the ground, ultimately killing the unarmed, 135-pound, 17-year-old African American teenager.”
Lofton’s family is “anxiously” awaiting the results of a criminal investigation by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, according to the lawyers, Steven Hart and Andrew Stroth.
According to the family’s lawyers, Prosecutors should file criminal charges, they said.
Investigators say they will share their findings with the local district attorney after the investigation is completed, according to a spokesman for the agency.
KSN reported that the officers involved have not been identified, but they have been placed on paid administrative leave.
In an autopsy report regarding the events leading up to Lofton’s death, the report said he ran away from his foster home on Sept. 21 and returned three days later exhibiting “erratic and aggressive behavior” toward his foster family.
Lofton allegedly had “light mental health challenges,” according to Stroth, and part of the account was a “distraction.”
According to the court documents, the responding police officers wanted to transport Lofton to a local hospital’s behavioral health unit, but he assaulted at least one of them while in custody and was brought to a juvenile jail center instead.
The report says Lofton, who was “agitated,” punched the head of an officer at the facility. He continued to struggle as officers shackled him and rolled him into a prone position, the report reads.
Lofton was handcuffed by officers 40 minutes later, at 5:08 a.m. Then at 5:12 a.m., he no longer had a pulse.
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