Family Files Against Phoenix Police In Another Fatal Prone Restraint Case

On Wednesday, we ran a story about a Supreme Court petition to return to and review police culpability for deadly force applied through the use of ‘prone restraint’ in the case of Nicholas Gilbert. Gilbert died in 2015 by suffocation after being restrained prone with officers holding him down by his back for 15 minutes. The U.S. Supreme Court has been asked to determine if prone restraint, which can be fatal, can be considered a ‘reasonable’ use of force if the person has resisted restraint. 

Also on Wednesday, the family of Akeem Terrell filed a lawsuit against the Phoenix Police Department and Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona, Jimmy Jenkins reports for the Arizona Republic. Terrell died by asphyxiation while detained in a Maricopa County jail cell after he was restrained on the ground with several officers holding him down. Terrell was then left alone lying prone in the cell for several minutes, video footage provided by the Sheriff’s Office shows.