Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 9, 1995 TAG: 9509110038
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In August, a suspect tied his shoestring to a crossbar in a wagon and hanged himself. Now, the crossbars have been removed from the department's two patrol wagons.
In a letter to the newspaper addressing questions about the hanging, Police Chief M. David Hooper said his department "will strive in the future to eliminate each and every possible opportunity" to repeat such an incident. But he would not say whether any specific policies and procedures had been changed.
Hooper's letter was the only indication that a police investigation into the events surrounding the death of Randy Justin Edwards was complete. The inquiry included the criminal investigations bureau and patrol division, but not internal affairs.
Edwards' mother, Karen Campbell Sheets, has not called for an internal investigation by the Police Department. She would not comment on police procedure the day her son was found hanged.
She asked only one question: Why was her son removed from a police cruiser, where officers could observe him, to a patrol wagon where they were unable to see him?
Officers arrested Edwards, 19, about 4 a.m. Aug. 7 after they found him standing outside a Southeast Roanoke drug store that had just been burglarized.
He was handcuffed and placed in a cruiser. Once inside, he became belligerent, hitting his head against a window, according to police and witness reports. He was placed in the rear of the patrol wagon about 5 a.m. for his own safety, Hooper said.
An officer was stationed outside the wagon while others searched inside the Wonder Drug building at 1224 Jamison Ave. Just before the police were ready to take Edwards to jail, about 5:30 a.m., they found him hanging from a bar in the ceiling of the wagon.
When placed in the wagon, Edwards' hands were cuffed behind his back. He had slipped his hands to the front - a trick his sisters said he perfected during years of playing Army with them - taken a shoelace off his sneaker and hanged himself. Efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.
An autopsy concluded that he died after his carotid arteries were cut off, stopping blood flow to his brain. Toxicology reports that would show whether he had alcohol or drugs in his blood were unavailable.
"Regardless of the type of crime the person is charged with or their criminal background, we certainly realize that life is a precious thing that a person should treasure, not destroy," Hooper wrote in his letter. "However, suicide, like murder, is most difficult to prevent."
Edwards, who lived with friends in Southeast Roanoke, had recently been bonded from jail on a charge of attempted breaking and entering. According to Hooper's letter, Edwards indicated that "he never intended to be detained again."
Edwards' friends and family members say they believe he got angry when handcuffed and placed in a police vehicle. He was claustrophobic, getting intensely afraid when placed in a small area, they say.
Police said they learned of Edwards' phobia only after his death. In his letter, Hooper said that no Police Department policy or procedure had been broken.
Edwards "was treated in a manner of respect and care by the officers who were required to physically control him once in custody," he wrote.
by CNB