'Justice for Jerome': Family seeks accountability in wake of man's beating, death

MARKSVILLE — Standing in front of the Avoyelles Parish Jail, an NAACP chapter president and others called Friday for the resignation of Avoyelles Parish Sheriff David Dauzat almost two months after a 26-year-old inmate allegedly was beaten inside a cell and later died in a hospital.

The family of Jerome Demond Stevenson has retained attorney Ben Crump, who spoke by phone to more than 50 people who gathered in the parking lot on the chilly morning to hear people talk about Stevenson's death during a news conference.

Crump, who has represented the families of George Floyd, Dexter Wade, Ronald Greene and others, told the crowd he would come to Marksville when his schedule permitted, "but we're gonna be fighting in court while y'all are fighting in the community."

Crump's remarks drew shouts of approval from the crowd.

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Stevenson was an inmate at the Avoyelles jail in Marksville on Nov. 4. According to a spokesperson for the family, New Roads NAACP chapter President Monica Fabre, Stevenson was "beaten to death while in protective custody."

Fabre said no one from the sheriff's office contacted Stevenson's family to tell them he had been beaten and was hospitalized. He died two days later, on Nov. 6.

She said no one connected to the sheriff's office has been in touch in any fashion with the family since Stevenson's death and, later during the news conference, said the family found out about his beating and hospitalization from inmates still inside the jail who were using smuggled cellphones.

A request for comment from the sheriff's office Friday on those allegations wasn't immediately available.

"We want justice for Jerome," said Fabre, who was surrounded by members of Stevenson's family at a podium not far from the entrance to the jail.

"There is no justice in the absence of truth," she said. "We have yet to hear any semblance of truth surrounding the brutal murder of Jerome in the Avoyelles Parish Jail."

A sheriff's office statement released after the news conference said the "offender-on-offender" incident happened the night of Nov. 4. Stevenson initially was taken to Avoyelles Hospital in Marksville, but later was transferred to Rapides Regional Medical Center in Alexandria.

He died at Rapides and, on Nov. 8, an autopsy was performed at Parish Forensics in Broussard. The results of that autopsy have not been received yet by the sheriff's office, according to the statement.

The sheriff's office has been investigating Stevenson's death and has been "in communication with the Louisiana State Police" during it, the statement reads. There were surveillance cameras in the area where Stevenson was attacked.

"At the conclusion of our investigation, we will take law enforcement action," the release reads. "There will be justice and accountability."

Fabre and others who spoke Friday called for action and for people either to vote or register to vote.

"We are here today to serve notice to any and all corrupt leaders of this parish that we have our boarding passes and our tickets in our hands, and our final destination is justice for Jerome," Fabre said.

Fabre said there would be no rest until the killing of Black mothers' sons became as important to everyone as the killing of white mothers' sons. She said the time for the community to unite is now.

What happened to Stevenson was no accident, she said. She detailed what happened to him as a result of the beating, saying that he was hit over and over until "his liver was lacerated, his eyes bulged out of his body, his body was deformed and the connectors to his brain separated."

Alexandria radio host Tony Brown said Marksville "has a problem," and he said the family would be contacting the U.S. Justice Department, too.

Michael McClanahan, the Louisiana NAACP president, said such deaths should not be happening again and again. It's "fighting time," he said.

"You can no longer kill our people and think we're gonna turn the other cheek," he said. "I'm not that Christian. I'm sorry. You hit me, I'm hitting your ass back."

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He spoke directly to Dauzat, saying voters had elected him to do a job but "obviously we elected the wrong person because you can't get the job done right."

McClanahan said Dauzat, a former Louisiana State Police trooper, was being given the opportunity to resign so someone else who can do the job could be elected.

"This young man did not have to die in jail," he said. "He went to jail because he committed an offense. He should have had his day in court. The jail acted as the judge, the jury and the executioner of this young man. That should not happen in America, but it's happening ... all over this land."

He called for people to vote and "unelect" those who won't take action after Stevenson's death. He told those not registered to vote to do so.

Dauzat was re-elected to a second term in October, defeating three challengers with 56% of the vote. Voter turnout was just 42.8% of the parish's registered voters, according to the Louisiana Secretary of State's Office.

"Well, here we go again," Reginald Devold, regional vice president of the Louisiana NAACP, told the crowd. "Here we go again. The dirty, lowdown deeds have been going on in this parish for way over 100 years, ever since my grandfather and father was growing up right here in this parish."

People have been afraid to speak up for years, but Devold told them not to be. Things have been hidden in fields and forests, but he said "we are about to expose what's been swept under the rug."

"We will pull the covers back," he said. "We will open the door to the closet, y'all, and expose all of the facts."

The statement released from the sheriff's office rebutted some of the claims made, saying it doesn't "tolerate crimes of violence committed in our jail facilities."

"We have made several arrests in the past, of offenders and even employees that committed crimes of violence and/or excessive force, and sent the case files to the district attorney’s office for prosecution," the statement reads

It continued in stating that Dauzat wanted Avoyelles residents to know that the sheriff's office takes their oaths of office seriously and holds themselves to a higher standard.

"The public has entrusted us to perform our duties in a lawful manner with honesty and integrity," it reads. "We will continue to do so."

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Probe continues into death of Avoyelles inmate Jerome Stevenson