Ben Crump: Fight won't stop 'until we get full justice' for Avoyelles' Jerome Stevenson

Attorney Ben Crump spoke Monday at a Pointe Coupee Parish church, telling a small crowd that his investigation into the death of an Avoyelles Parish inmate was continuing and that they would not give up until there was justice.

The family of Jerome Demond Stevenson, the 26-year-old who died on Nov. 6 after being beaten two days earlier while in the Avoyelles Parish Detention Center 1 in Marksville, has retained Crump, an attorney who became nationally known when he represented the families of Trayvon Martin and George Floyd and other victims of police brutality.

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Stevenson's family held a news conference Dec. 29, and Crump spoke via cellphone to people gathered in front of the Marksville jail and offices of the Avoyelles Parish Sheriff's Office.

At St. Mary Missionary Baptist Church in Lettsworth Monday, he had a message for Stevenson's family and public officials in Avoyelles Parish and beyond:

"We won’t leave this alone until we get full justice for Jerome," Crump repeated in an appearance that was carried on several live Facebook feeds.

He thanked local residents for not allowing Stevenson's death to be swept under the rug. He said he visited Louisiana to make sure light shines on the tragedy and that Stevenson's death won't be in vain.

He said Stevenson's 6-year-old son will know that people fought for his father.

"We want it to be clear what we did," he said. "We fought for justice — full justice — for Jerome."

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Crump called Stevenson's autopsy report "heartbreaking," reading details from it about the blunt force trauma he suffered to his head, brain and abdomen. As he did, people could be heard crying.

"It literally documents that he was beaten to death, that this goes beyond excessive force, this goes beyond police brutality," he said.

Crump said Stevenson was beaten to death while in the custody of the Avoyelles Parish Sheriff's Office, which he said had a responsibility to him. Jailers didn't have the right to be his judge, jury and executioner, he said.

Stevenson deserved due process, said Crump.

"If we learned anything from George Floyd’s case, it tells us when a citizen is in your custody, they’re also in your care," he said.

He demanded that the state's Department of Corrections "investigate this matter to the highest level." He said it wasn't enough to charge "low-level jailers" and an inmate, especially since local residents believe those people were acting on orders.

However, Crump later said his investigation is ongoing and wouldn't comment on texts that some have received that claim Stevenson was targeted while in jail. He also said he understood there's a local debate that the inmate is being used as a scapegoat.

The sheriff's office announced Feb. 17 that two correctional deputies, Byron Oneal White and Frank Clinton Overbey III, were arrested along with a 37-year-old inmate, John Contrell Williams of Marksville, in connection to Stevenson's death.

Williams was arrested on a charge of second-degree murder.

Overbey, 61, was arrested on a charge of being a principal to second-degree murder, while 60-year-old White was arrested on a charge of malfeasance in office. Both men were fired after their arrests, according to the sheriff's office.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Ben Crump: Autopsy shows Jerome Stevenson was beaten to death in jail