Brianna Marie Grier died following an incident that occurred when she was in police custody.
via: Complex
WMAZ reports Brianna Grier, 28, was pronounced dead on July 21 following an “in-custody incident with Hancock County Sheriff’s Office deputies.” The incident occurred on July 15, when Grier’s mother called police for help because her daughter was having a schizophrenic episode.
“Grier was arrested at the home,” the GBI said. “While deputies were taking Grier to the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office, Grier fell out of a patrol car and sustained significant injuries. She later died because of those injuries.”
According to Brianna’s father, his daughter suffered a head fracture and was airlifted to a local hospital. After remaining in a coma for several days, Brianna was taken off a ventilator after a doctor told relatives that she was “brain dead.”
Geoffrey Alpert, a professor of criminal justice at the University of South Carolina confirmed to NBC News that patrol cars are “ALWAYS supposed to be locked from the inside.”
“Otherwise,” he added, “prisoners would be letting themselves out all the time.”
“If she got out the car, they had to let her out the car,” Brianna’s mother, Mary Grier, told WMAZ. “That’s my interpretation, because in a police car, you can’t open the door from the inside, it had to be the outside.”
The GBI investigation remains active and ongoing.
