Springfield mother testifies at Boston hearing on jail deaths

A Springfield mother pushing for change and accountability from officials following the in-custody death of her son. 22 News reporter Aretha Odaya has the details. He's gone at the hands of the guards in the South Bay. A severe lack of accountability and maltreatment of prisoners is what Drusilla Brown testifies is what killed her one and only son, 32-year-old Jacoby Kenny, back in December of last year, who was facing assault charges. Kenny's death ruled a homicide after suffering cardiac arrest caused by physical restraint by correction officers. There's still things happening in there. There's nobody that's fighting for those prisoners. Tears from the heartbroken mother and a panelist of other advocates in a Boston committee hearing Monday looking deeper at in-custody deaths at the Suffolk County House of Corrections. More than 20 people have died in Suffolk County Correctional Facilities. Over the past five years, we have a responsibility to examine the circumstances surrounding these deaths and the systemic factors that may have contributed to them. A lengthy letter sent just months ago by the Prisoners Legal Services of Massachusetts to the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department and Sheriff Stephen Tompkins documenting several excessive force allegations like using chokeholds on inmates and failures to discipline staff. If you have nothing to hide, if your prison is doing its job, if your COs are trained properly, why is the sheriff not here right now? Members of the Boston City Council say the work continues with local organizations and community activists to push for the answers families have been waiting for. Working for you, Aretha Odaya, 22 News.