Family of deceased Spartanburg inmate protests in front of Detention Center
The family of a man who died in the custody of the Spartanburg County Detention Center held a protest Wednesday in front of the detention center demanding answers about his death.
Lavell Lane died on Monday, Oct. 3, at the detention center. His family made a promise last week at a press conference to return to the SCDC on Wednesday, Oct. 12, to protest the lack of answers.
The family was joined by a few residents and representatives from several civil rights groups, including the Charleston chapter of Black Lives Matter (BLM) and the National Racial Justice Network (RJN).
"Accountability," "transparency," and "responsibility" were demanded of law enforcement agencies investigating Lane's death. These same terms were used a week ago when the family addressed the media, two days after Lane was pronounced dead by Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger's Office at 5:04 a.m. Monday, Oct. 3.
“My son can’t speak, but I’m gonna speak for him, believe that,” said Beverly Lane-Reese, Lavell's mother.
Andy Reese, Lavell's father, led the group gathered in prayer before the demonstration began, asking for closure, guidance, and justice in Lane's death.
"Transparency is key here, guys, and the release of this video footage will give this family the closure that they need," said Rasheda Robinson, the family attorney.
"I wanna see everything. Show him walking in there, and show him coming out — even if you have to show him out in a body bag," Reese said. "I wanna know what officer it was that tased my son butt-naked."
Marcus McDonald, lead organizer of the Charleston chapter of Black Lives Matter, said Lane’s case has been on his radar since it occurred last week.
“It is something we’ve been seeing since the beginning of history: people ignoring people with mental health [issues], people ignoring the issues of families, the issues of the Black community, and we have to make a stop to that,” McDonald said.
Along with answers regarding Lane's death, which occurred within hours of being booked into SCDC, the family raised issues with the fact that nobody from the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office or State Law Enforcement Division has reached out to offer their condolences.
SLED investigates all matters concerning inmate deaths as a matter of practice, and the Herald-Journal has filed a South Carolina Freedom of Information Act request with SLED for all written documentation and digital footage concerning Lane's death.
"The sheriff didn't even step out and say 'Mr. Reese, I'm sorry for what happened to your son; here are my condolences.' I didn't hear nothing," Reese said. "And I'm weeping over my child. Please show the footage."
“From the 2nd of October to today, [the Sheriff's Office] still has not reached out to me about Lavell’s death, about his incarceration,” Lane-Reese said.
Sheriff Chuck Wright and local activist Chance Lebron engaged in a conversation on social media earlier this week, where Wright said nobody had reached out to him about footage regarding Lane’s death.
"There's nothing to say the poor fella went to sleep and didn't wake up," Wright said in the social media post.
“The family has been trying to contact this department since Lavell died here. Racial Justice Network has been trying to contact this office," said Dr. Candace Brewer, National President of RJN. "Finally, after a week, we received an email yesterday afternoon at 5:52 p.m. from the sheriff’s secretary, and it basically said that SLED is investigating it, and SLED handles any type of death that’s involved with an inmate.”
The family held a "homegoing" funeral service Tuesday afternoon for Lane.
Lane-Reese says she was not able to see Lane’s body until the day before the funeral. The family also said the autopsy had already been done before the Coroner’s Office representative notified them of Lane’s death.
Lavell Lane's relatives present at Wednesday's protest included his sisters Andrea Thomas, Roxann Thomas, and Anquinette Reese, who traveled from Long Beach, California for the funeral and protest. Lavell's brother, Elijah Lane, traveled from Brooklyn, New York to speak, as did his cousin Yashua Lane, who lives in Maryland.
"It ain't about officers — we understand that there's good people and bad people in this world, OK?" Yashua Lane said. "We understand that. We understand it's not the whole Spartanburg, it's not the whole Spartanburg correction facility, but it's just one individual that makes it bad for everyone else. They need to [make] that person accountable. They had training."
The family did not set a specific time when they will return, but Beverly Lane-Reese promised to return as many times as necessary until the family finds the answers they are looking for.
“I don’t want no other family to have to go through this because this is antagonizing. This is hurtful. I mean, if I knew, I might could deal with it, I don’t know. So, it’s just like a puzzle with pieces missing, and I want them to fill those pieces in,” Lane-Reese said.
This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: The family of a man who died at detention center want answers.
