Suspect dies in police custody

Mon, Jun 11th 2012, 09:56 AM

The mother of a man who died in police custody on Friday said she thought he would be safe with police after masked men appeared one day looking for him.
Police said Tyrone Saunders, 22, was found dead in a cell at Central Detective Unit (CDU) on Friday.
According to police, Saunders was arrested near Bamboo Shack on Baillou Hill Road on Thursday for questioning in connection with a murder.
Joanna McKenzie told The Nassau Guardian on Saturday that her family needs answers.
"A few days before this, I met a couple of guys in my neighbor's yard in ski masks asking me for my son; they came to kill him," McKenzie said.
"So when I heard that the police had 'TJ', I said, 'Oh Lord, I thank God the police have TJ [because] these boys looking out to kill him'. At least if the police have him he's safe, not knowing you aren't safe [anywhere]."
Coroner Linda Virgil has launched an investigation into the incident, police said.
"The last time I saw my son alive was on Friday evening when I took him some KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken). The officers at the Grove Police Station told me I could bring him some KFC...to eat and after that I checked back later that evening and they said that [officers from the] Central Detective Unit (CDU) took him to CDU," McKenzie said.
She said when she went to CDU on Thompson Boulevard, officers told her to come back as they were still processing her son.
McKenzie said she went home and sometime later that day officers stopped by, picked her up and carried her back to CDU.
"They took me upstairs into this room [and] sat me down," she said. "So they started giving me information as to why they had my son in custody. He (the officer) got to a point where he said they met him unconscious.
"I stopped him right in his tracks. I said you mean to tell me [that you all] killed my child in this station? Beyond that point I wasn't hearing [anything]. I just [went] out of my mind because I know I just [left] TJ in one piece from the Grove [Police Station]."
Police noted that Saunders was shot twice before.
Officer in Charge of CDU Superintendent Paul Rolle refused to comment on the matter yesterday, saying he too was in the dark as to what exactly happened.
"We extend condolences to Mrs. McKenzie," Rolle said. "...All of us would like to know what happened."
He said the coroner's investigation would be made public.
Saunders leaves behind a two-year-old son, Tyreek.

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