South Carolina man's family seeks answers in his death 3 days after arrest
Byron Jackson, 45, died in the days after his June 22 arrest by the Irmo Police Department, following a 911 call alleging that someone had gotten into a fight, according to his family's lawyer, civil rights attorney Bakari Sellers. The lawyer said that Jackson was not involved in a fight and the cause of his death is unclear.
"I can tell you that we're not going to allow the Irmo Police Department just to treat him as some other young African American kid," Sellers said at a press conference on Tuesday. "He's dead now. You guys going about your business -- that's not going to happen on our watch."
Byron Jackson's mother Bettie Jackson, who was present at the news conference with other family members, was visibly distraught.
"We all loved him dearly, and we talked two and three times a day, and I'm surely, surely going to miss him," Bettie Jackson said. "In fact, not 'am going to miss him' -- I'm missing him already."
Irmo Police Chief Bobby Dale told ABC News in a statement on Tuesday that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) has taken over the investigation and that he could not make any further statements to ensure the process is conducted appropriately.
Also Tuesday, SLED confirmed in a statement to ABC News that Byron Jackson died on June 25 in the hospital, three days after the arrest. They said that the investigation is ongoing, and more information may be available at "a later time."
The Richland County Coroner's Office did not immediately reply to ABC News' request for Byron Jackson's autopsy and cause of death.
"We do know that the Irmo Police Department can release the body cam," Sellers said. "We do know that body cam footage does exist, and we're asking them to do that."
Sellers requested the release of the identities of the officers involved. He also denied the police department's alleged account that a high-speed chase ensued before Byron Jackson's arrest, or that he was involved in a fight before police arrived. Sellers said he doesn't know why a 911 call was made in regard to Byron Jackson.
"This started with a 911 call from a resident of Irmo. I'm not sure what she thought she saw," Sellers said. "I can't go into her head, but there was not a fight in the vehicle. There was one person -- who was Byron -- in that vehicle. That is a fact."
Sellers also said that Byron Jackson was in a work utility van that had "its own issues" and that he knew from investigators that there was no high-speed chase.
The attorney said that, after police arrived, there was a low-speed collision, Byron Jackson and an officer ended up at the bottom of a ravine and the South Carolina resident was handcuffed. After that, Sellers said he died and the family doesn't know how.
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