Photo courtesy of AP
An autopsy was performed on former New Orleans Saints football player Glenn Foster Jr., who was found dead in police custody earlier this month. According to the legal team assigned to the case, the results confirmed that Foster was strangled and suffered trauma before his death, NewsOne reported.
As News Onyx previously reported, Foster, 31, died in police custody on Dec. 6, two days after being arrested for driving over the speed limit. According to statements from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, he was charged with three counts of reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, and an attempt to elude.
While the former NFL player was in jail on Dec. 5, his father told the Washington Post “that his son had an “altercation” and was ultimately found unresponsive when the prisoner arrived at a different corrections facility where he was transported on Dec. 6.”
The reports suggested that Foster may have been in a jail fight before he died. However, civil rights attorney Ben Crump and the lawyers working with him on Foster’s case didn’t believe what was stated in the initial reports. Dr. Michael Baden, an internationally renowned medical examiner who performed an independent autopsy, said there could be more to the in-custody death.
“Glenn Foster Jr.’s death, while in the Pickens County Sheriff’s custody and care, was not from natural causes as the independent autopsy suggests there was some evidence of neck compressions and strangulation,” Crump, and co-counsels Diandra “Fu” Debrosse Zimmermann and Robert F. “Bobby” DiCello said in a statement to NewsOne.
“As we continue to investigate the case, we are learning that Mr. Foster’s death in Pickens County appears to be part of a disturbing trend of Black men dying while in the custody of the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office.”
Crump’s legal team also said someone needs to be held accountable for Foster’s death.
“Keeping people in your custody alive is literally the lowest bar we can set for a law enforcement agency and is something that the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office failed to do. Pickens County owes the family the truth relating to Mr. Foster’s tragic death,” the statement continued. “These findings are deeply concerning and demand a full and transparent investigation into what happened to Glenn Foster Jr. and how he lost his life. We will not stop until we get answers and justice for Glenn, his family, and the community.”
Foster’s father also said the 31-year-old had a history of “manic” episodes and said his son was “uncooperative” and “not being reasonable” when they spoke on the phone while he was in jail.
“You could tell he was not his normal self,” Glenn Foster Sr. told CNN last week. NOLA.com reported that Foster had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder ten years earlier.