JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The attorney for the family of an inmate who was critically injured in an unspecified incident involving nine Duval County jail officers said that he died on Thursday afternoon after being “brain dead” in the hospital since Monday.
In a statement to News4JAX, Attorney Belkis Plata said that Charles Faggart, who was the owner of a food truck and catering company, died on Thursday at 2:11 p.m.
“The family of Charles Faggart is heartbroken, devastated, overwhelmed with shock and pleading for answers,” Plata wrote in the statement.
On Tuesday, Sheriff T.K. Waters announced that eight correctional officers and a correctional sergeant were removed from their positions and stripped of all their correction authority following the incident, which happened on Monday morning.
Waters said he would not give details about the incident or how the inmate was injured because it was still an open investigation.
On Thursday, Plata told News4JAX that Faggart “was beaten.”
Waters said on Wednesday he had formally requested the Jacksonville Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to help investigate the incident.
In a statement to News4JAX following Faggart’s death, JSO said, “detectives have and will continue to remain in communication with the family through its attorney.”
JSO’s statement also says in part:
“Detectives continue to work diligently to gain a complete understanding of the facts and circumstances that led to the brain death of Charles Faggart after the April 7th incident at the Duval County Jail. This is an active, dynamic investigation that requires, amongst other things, the opinion of the Office of the Medical Examiner.”
Plata said JSO had not provided the family with any information about what happened to Faggart.
“Not a phone call. Not a meeting. Not an explanation,” Plata wrote. “This family has a right to know what happened to their son — under Florida law, under Marsy’s Law, and under any sense of human decency. Even if Sheriff Waters refuses to share that information publicly, he owes this family the truth privately."
Plata added that Faggart’s family will not rest until they know exactly what happened.
“We intend to hold every individual involved in this tragedy accountable — both in the criminal justice system and in the civil courts,” Plata wrote. “We continue to call on the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to do what is right — to show this family mercy — and to give them the dignity of knowing the truth before they bury their child.”
Click here to access the family’s GoFundMe account.
Inmate records show Faggart was arrested for domestic assault and criminal mischief.
