TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas prosecutor who will decide whether to charge employees of a juvenile center over a Black teen’s death said Wednesday that an autopsy’s finding that the death was a homicide doesn’t necessarily mean the employees committed any crimes.
The statement from District Attorney Marc Bennett in Sedgwick County, home to the state’s largest city of Wichita, came after attorneys for the family of 17-year-old Cedric Lofton described his death as “unjustified.” They said Wednesday that they expect Bennett to file criminal charges based on the autopsy and video from a Sept. 24 struggle between Lofton and workers at the county’s Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center.
Lofton died at a Wichita-area hospital two days after the altercation. The autopsy concluded that Lofton’s heart and breathing stopped after he was pulled to the ground and was handcuffed while lying on his stomach. The report from the county’s chief medical examiner said, “The manner of death is homicide.”
