Michael Jefferson's Suspicious Death In Jail Has His Family Demanding Answers
The family of Michael Jefferson wants answers after he was found unresponsive in an Illinois jail cell and later died.
What makes this case even more strange is that less than 24 hours after Jefferson died, the Illinois Department of Corrections had taken his body to another hospital after the initial one he’d been staying at, did a quick autopsy and then sent the body back to his family. What they saw was their loved one’s nose bloody, his lip bruised, a lump on his forehead and bruises on his back.
The family took pictures of the injuries and released them via Facebook. Social media quickly responded. When asked for their reaction, the Illinois Department of Corrections gave their explanation.
“Preliminary information reveals there was no trauma to Mr. Jefferson’s body when he was transported from Menard Correctional Center to Chester Memorial Hospital on July 11th,” a statement they released reads, in part. “It is the Department’s understanding that the wounds seen in the pictures of Mr. Jefferson’s body are consistent with those incurred during an autopsy and the swelling a result of the body’s rapid decomposition.”
Jefferson had been serving time in Menard Maximum Security Correctional Facility for a parole violation on a gun charge, according to the Randolph Herald Tribune. Initially, a coroner report stated that the inmate was found unresponsive in his cell on July 11 and was taken to Chester Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1:20 pm.
Michael Jefferson’s family isn’t buying the initial story or the department’s subsequent explanation. They’ve decided to raise money for an independent autopsy. Janel Charles, Jefferson's mother, says her son was bipolar and was kept in Menard’s segregated unit for mentally ill inmates. She was informed that someone would be checking on her son every half-an-hour.
“Somebody needs to tell me something. My son was 27 and healthy,” she told WGN News. “There was nothing wrong with my son, other than his bipolar. Whatever went on in there, he did not deserve to die that way. He was a human being. He had people [who] loved him. I loved my son. His brothers loved him. He died like an animal.”
