Homicide Ruling In Death Of Black Teen Who Was Restrained By Multiple Officers At Jail

The death of an African-American teenager who died in September after being restrained by multiple corrections officers at a juvenile jail has been ruled a homicide, an autopsy report has revealed. Multiple staff restrained the teen two days after he was taken into custody.

In the autopsy report filed Monday at the Sedgwick County District Court and obtained by NBC affiliate KSN, the cause of death of Cedric Lofton, 17, from Kansas, was described as “complications of cardiopulmonary arrest sustained after physical struggle while restrained in the prone position.” The manner of death was ruled as a homicide.

The report also revealed details about the circumstances surrounding the teenager’s death.

The report stated that Lofton left his foster home on Sept. 21 and returned on Sept. 24 “exhibiting erratic and aggressive behavior toward his foster family.” Law enforcement responded to the scene and Lofton was taken into custody “with the intention of taking him to a behavior health unit at a local hospital.” However, Lofton reportedly attacked “one or more of the officers around him” so he was transported to the Sedgwick County Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center (JIAC) for processing. He arrived at the juvenile jail in a “WRAP restraint system.”

The report added that “video footage of subsequent events at the JIAC facility is reviewed and correlated with a timeline of events provided by law enforcement.”

At the juvenile facility, Lofton was reportedly “uncooperative and agitated” upon entry to the facility lobby. Two staff members restrained Lofton, followed by other staff members coming to restrain the teen after he “punched one of the staff members in the head.” Authorities previously said up to five employees restrained Lofton, NBC News reported.

The Lofton family lawyers, Steven Hart and Andrew Stroth, said in a statement that the teen’s family is “anxiously” waiting for results of a criminal investigation under the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

In an email, the lawyers said the autopsy’s results confirmed footage from the jail indicating that corrections officers “unjustifiably and with excessive and unreasonable force pinned Cedric to the ground, ultimately killing the unarmed, 135-pound, 17-year-old African American teenager.”

Lofton, who was pronounced dead on Sept. 26, tested positive of COVID-19 and also tested positive of cannabinoid use. Corrections employees involved in the incident have reportedly been placed on administrative leave while waiting for investigation results from the District Attorney’s office, but they have not been identified.

The teenager’s family are now asking for criminal charges after the autopsy results were released, CBS affiliate KWCH-TV reported. The family has also released one of the final photos of Lofton taken at the hospital before his death. In the photo, the teen can be seen with tubes and monitors around him.