The grief-stricken family of 29-year-old Janard Geffrard, who was brutally beaten to death by his Broward County Jail cellmate, is demanding answers after the harrowing incident that occurred on Dec. 16. According to surveillance footage, the victim was subjected to a relentless attack that spanned 21 minutes without any intervention from jail deputies. "Somebody beat my kid up real bad, and then he kept doing it, he kept after he was out," Marcia Irving, Geffrard’s mother, told Local 10 News in a heart-wrenching interview. The family's attorney, Josiah Graham, emphasized the pressing need to comprehend how the system could so catastrophically fail to protect one under its guard.
Irving shared with WSVN the devastating aftermath of the attack, revealing that it took two days for her to even be notified. "He was already dead when I got there because it was too much time lapsed for them to give him help," she explained. The Broward County Sheriff's Office has since placed two employees on administrative leave and has opened an internal investigation. Details have surfaced indicating that the assailant, Kevin Barnes, admitted to attacking Geffrard, allegeing it was motivated by his sexuality and lack of personal hygiene.
The tragic incident has shed light on the larger issue of mental health care within the jail system. Both Geffrard and Barnes were known to suffer from mental illness, raising serious questions about the jail's screening process and the pairing of these two individuals in the same cell. Broward County Public Defender Gordon Weekes blasted the system, stating in the Local 10 News article, "That’s a measure of screening within the jail. That is a measure of making proper determinations about who you place into close confines with each other." It has been noted that previously, Sheriff Gregory Tony had raised concerns about the treatment of inmates with mental health issues at the county jail.
As the community grapples with this tragedy, Weekes's comments to WSVN underscore the urgency to thoroughly investigate the sequence of events that led to Geffrard's ultimately fatal injuries. "We just want to know what happened," Irving articulated. "How did they let him down like that." Barnes is expected to be charged with murder as a result of his actions which have now vividly highlighted concerning systemic issues within the jail system concerning inmate safety and mental health support.
