JACKSON, Mich. (WLNS) — A Jackson family is searching for answers after 33-year-old Dameon Broussard died while in custody at the county jail.
The police called it a heroin overdose, but the family isn’t buying it.
“My husband knew he was coming home and he would have never did that and he’s never took heroin a day in his life,” said Dameon’s wife, Sandra Broussard.
Police say they found Dameon Broussard unconscious with no pulse last Thursday, and after life saving-efforts he was transported to Henry Ford Hospital where he passed away on Monday.
His family said they have hospital forms from a urine screening that lists negative results to all drugs. It’s raising questions from the family.
“What happened really in jail? Why isn’t anybody telling the truth? The only people that really know what happened is probably the inmates and his cellmates,” said Dameon’s brother-in-law, Cedrick Dupree.
The Jackson County Sheriff said Broussard and two other inmates ingested heroin. They were all given Narcan, but Broussard never recovered. The sheriff said one of the other inmates that was treated claimed they had taken drugs.
“We started life saving measures on him. He was still able to communicate at that time because we were right there and while we were doing that that individual told us that he had taken heroin,” said Jackson County Sheriff Gary Schuette.
Police said they did not find heroin inside the jail after a dog search was done. The other two inmates survived.
The sheriff said he can only speculate on what was done to try and flush his system.
Dameon’s family believes he took some sort of pill. They are anxious to get more tests and an autopsy completed. They want the truth to come out.
The Jackson County Office of the Sheriff said it has asked the Jackson Police Department to come in and do a full independent investigation into how heroin could have gotten inside the jail.
An autopsy report is expected to take a few weeks.
