ST. LOUIS — Tamika Smith said her father loved to cook. A parking lot attendant downtown, Terrence Smith loved being around family and friends, she said. In her eyes, he was a protector.
That’s also what his attorney argued in court he was doing when he shot and killed a man in January — protecting his daughter in a domestic dispute that turned fatal. Prosecutors charged him with murder in March, and he was expected to go to trial this fall.
But Smith never got the chance. He died while incarcerated at the City Justice Center. His daughter wants more answers about how the 55-year-old with serious medical needs was treated, starting from the time court documents show he fell from the top of a bunk bed in April to when he died in August.
“We still don’t have anything. We don’t know anything,†said Tamika Smith. His attorney said documents show the fall prompted a seizure and multiple serious injuries.
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She recalled seeing her father during a visit at the jail afterward.
“He was so little. One of his eyes was open, the other one was shut. His face was fat. His hands were big. He was in a wheelchair. He had a neck brace on. He couldn’t walk,†Tamika Smith said.
Cases like Terrence Smith’s are why Mike Milton, a member of the jail’s civilian oversight board, is holding an action with his organization, Freedom Community Center, to call for more transparency into the jail’s policies, use of force and death investigations.
FCC, which paid for Smith’s funeral, will gather in front of the city jail at noon Monday with other community advocates and formerly incarcerated people.
The city’s Department of Public Safety said the Force Investigation Unit was requested to assist the Medical Examiner’s Office with an investigation into Smith’s death.
Questions about the jail are also why state Sen. Steve Roberts recently called for the state auditor to investigate the jail. Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick said this week he agreed that the allegations needed to be investigated. City aldermen and the oversight board members this summer called for the commissioner of the jail to resign.
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‘Not truthful’
A court filing last month in an ongoing federal lawsuit against the city and jail for misuse of pepper spray, brought by civil rights firm Arch City Defenders, made public for the first time a report on the 2021 riots and uprisings at the jail.
In it, the law firm contracted by the city to review the jail interviewed detainees and at least one officer who said other officers were “not truthful†in their justification of using mace in their use-of-force reports. But other jail officials cited in the report say the increased use of force with detainees was warranted because detainees’ misconduct reports had increased, spurred by COVID restrictions.
The firm also stated in the report that it could not substantiate claims of deprivation of water to inmates.
Still some, including Nikki Spurr, who previously was incarcerated and whose husband is detained in the jail, say a lack of food and water, medical care and humane treatment plague the institution.
“You’d be surprised on what goes on at that jail, just in (the) intake (area) and even just in a few hours,†Spurr said in a recent interview.
Milton, the oversight board member, says the board still hasn’t been briefed by the city or any other agency on recent critical incidents at the jail or about detainees taking a guard hostage last month. On Sept. 1, Janis Mensah, the vice chair of the jail board, was dragged off a chair and arrested in the Justice Center lobby and cited for trespassing. Mensah said they’d gone to the jail seeking answers about recent inmate deaths.
Legislation filed by Alderman Rasheen Aldridge this month cuts some of the red tape the civilian jail oversight board members say has prevented them from investigating the jail. Aldridge’s bill specifies training that must be done in a 10-hour orientation and other training over a 12-month period.
In addition, the board would have independent legal representation, and the ºüÀêÊÓƵ circuit attorney, director of public safety, city counselor or their staff would be required to appear before the jail and police oversight boards once a month.
Mayor Tishaura O. Jones’ administration has said the board members have not been adequately trained and that is what is hindering their work. The city has said that, contrary to numerous complaints, inmates are allowed to shower and are fed three meals a day. Jones this month also personally defended the leadership of the jail’s commissioner.
But the mayor has yet to engage with board members in person or indicate whether she’ll approve Aldridge’s latest legislation. On Thursday, her office said she met with faith leaders and justice services advocates about the state of the jail, hiring and the search for a new medical provider.
None of the members of the detention facilities oversight board were invited.
“It’s just a clear sign that the mayor is refusing to work with the board and rather not focus on the problems and conditions of the jail,†said Mensah.