‘Time to do something different’: Families plead for probe into Broward inmate deaths

Families of inmates who have died while being held in Broward jails joined together at the courthouse Thursday, conveying pain and bewilderment as they called for oversight due to decrepit conditions inside correctional facilities across the county.

Broward NAACP President Marsha Ellison and Broward Public Defender Gordon Weekes comforted the families — shedding some tears themselves — as loved ones painstakingly voiced how their lives have forever changed.

Anthony Kirk, through stifled tears, shared how difficult it has been for him since learning of his nephew Joseph Kirk’s death. Joseph was an inmate at the Broward jail’s detoxification unit who died while in the hospital on Jan. 22.

The Public Defender’s Office previously told the Miami Herald that it believes that Joseph died after ingesting smuggled drugs or due to improper detox protocols.

“I hate to say it, but I had a part in putting [him] in jail,” Kirk said. “I feel a little guilt because I thought he would be safe.”

READ MORE: Three inmates have died in Broward jails in the past month. Is it time for oversight?

The families’ pleas came after the NAACP sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday demanding an investigation into the Broward Sheriff’s Office training of deputies and management of the jails.

And it’s not the first time observers have called for inquiries to addresss long-standing issues at the county lockups.

A pattern of neglect?

From 1995 to 2017, the Broward jails were under a consent decree that set a population cap and required formal monitoring. As part of the agreement, BSO acknowledged jail conditions were unconstitutional.

In 2021, the jails were again placed under a consent decree after the ACLU and BSO came to an agreement that ordered improved conditions to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks.

Ellison said she’s confident they will receive a “positive response” from the DOJ. The DOJ told the Miami Herald it couldn’t confirm the “existence of any investigation.”

“We want to make sure that the truth comes out, whatever that may be,” Ellison said. “Families are prepared to accept whatever it is, but right now, not doing anything, not knowing anything, it just cannot continue.”

‘Somebody wasn’t doing their job’

At least 21 people died while in the custody of BSO since 2021, Weekes added. Joseph’s death was just one in a string of four fatalities at Broward jails from December 2023 to January.

Robert Moberg thought his son Corbin Moberg would be safe while in jail. But in early January, Corbin was found dead in his cell.

“Being in jail there, you’d think he’d be protected and somebody would be watching him, but I heard what happened to him,” he said. “Somebody wasn’t doing their job.”

Moberg said he doesn’t understand how his son, who was in great health, died in the jail’s custody.

“Some nights, I wake up and I can’t go back to sleep,” Moberg said through tears. “I just lay there thinking about what could have been. How his life could have been in the future. Now that’s not going to happen because somebody somewhere failed...I’ll never get to see Corbin live out the rest of his life.”

In late December, 43-year-old Alvin Stephen Modeste hung himself in his cell at the North Broward Bureau, which primarily houses inmates with mental health issues and special needs.

Sister Corine Modeste was shaking from grief as she detailed being given 15 minutes to see her brother after he was declared brain dead.

“It’s just hard to find out that my brother died in the jail system,” Modeste said. “I talk to my brother all the time...so for them to tell me that he committed suicide, it’s not believable at all.”

Modeste demanded to see video surveillance that may have captured the moments leading up to Alvin’s death. She said she couldn’t understand how he wasn’t safeguarded in the jail, but several deputies were outside his hospital room after his death.

“How are you looking after him now?” she said through tears. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

A few days before Modeste’s death, 29-year-old Janard Geffrard was found unresponsive on his cell floor half an hour after being attacked by a cellmate who, according to law enforcement, put him in a chokehold.

Deputies say cellmate Kevin Barnes ambushed Geffrard for more than 20 minutes in an attack that was captured on video. BSO’s internal affairs unit is investigating the incident.

READ MORE: Broward inmate attacked by cellmate, deputies say. It’s part of jail’s troubled history

Geffrard’s father, brothers, cousin and aunt stood inside the courthouse Thursday, fraught with grief. The family said they couldn’t conceive how Geffrard died under the supervision of jail deputies.

“I want to know what happened to my son. I’m hurt,” Jeff Geffrard, Janard’s father, said before erupting into tears. “...We have no answers. I want no other family to go through what I’m going through...I love my son. I miss my son.”

Public defender raises more concerns

Weekes, who has served as county’s public defender since 2021, said he visited the main jail last week, taking note of several issues at the facility.

“When you have a number of inmates and detainees that are trying to get our attention because they are complaining about a particular individual in a cell that suggests that he has been abused — that is troubling,” he said.

Weekes said he was alarmed to notice that inmates had access to items like blankets that they could use to harm themselves. Many of the inmates, he noted, were fully covered, making it hard to discern whether they were still breathing.

For Ellison, however, issues in the county’s jails stem beyond deaths. There have also been inmates who have mutilated themselves and at least two instances of women who gave birth without proper medical attention.

“We only know what we see. If they say they are trying to do something, people are still dying,” she underscored. “So obviously, if they are trying — and I’m not saying they are not — it has not worked. It’s time to do something different.”