Black people dying in disgusting, vermin-infested, egregiously-neglected jails has become more common these days, as BOSSIP has reported on fatal incidents at both Fulton County Jail in Atlanta and, most recently, at Marcy Correctional Facility in upstate New York.
Sadly, we have to report yet another name to add to that ever-growing list. According to The Telegraph, a 49-year-old Missouri man named Zareef M. Fawaz died March 31, 2024 on in custody at Madison County jail after allegedly being denied medicine that he desperately needed. Ubiquitous civil rights attorney Ben Crump and Richard Banks are representing the family and recently announced plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit on Fawaz’s birthday one year later.
“Instead of celebrating his birthday, they’re having to come here and fight for justice for a tragedy that never should have happened,” he said, calling it unnecessary, unjustifiable and unconstitutional.
On March 22, 2024, Fawaz was arrested for domestic battery and robbery. Crump says Fawaz told jail officials that he had a medical condition that could cause blood clots, saying, “He said, ‘I got to get my medicine, because if I don’t get my medicine I will die.”
According to BND, Crump spoke to the fact that this case is about more than just the way Zareef Fawaz was treated.
“It’s cruel and unusual punishment for a sick man to beg and plead for his medicine and you deny him that medicine,” Crump said. “… It’s not just about Zareef. If you have a loved one who happens to be in jail and they’re asking for their medicine, then make certain that you don’t take it for granted that they will follow the Constitution in Madison County.”
Neither Jail Administrator Jerry Endicott nor Madison County Sheriff Jeff Connor responded to requests by BND for a public statement on the matter.
If this case goes the same way that the Fulton County case did, then the family can expect Madison County to write them a check for financial settlement.
