The St. Louis City Justice Center is once again at the center of controversy following the death of a detainee, Samuel Hayes Jr., this past weekend. According to KSDK, after an altercation with another inmate at around 8:20 p.m., the 31-year-old Hayes was restrained in a chair following his failure to comply with verbal commands from staff. He was later discovered unresponsive around 10 p.m. and pronounced dead after being transported to a hospital.
Hayes' family has expressed dismay over the lack of communication from the authorities, as they were not informed of his death by officials but instead learned of the incident through another inmate. "I didn’t get notified till 3 a.m. this morning that my son has been deceased," Anita Washington, Hayes’ mother, told FOX 2 News. "No one had got in contact with me till 3 a.m. and they still haven’t reached out to me. I had to hear it from my daughter." Hayes had been in custody for more than a year, facing charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action. His family stated that he was in good health prior to the incident.
This marks the twentieth death at the facility since 2020, raising questions about the conditions and practices within the St. Louis justice system. Alderman Rasheen Aldridge Jr., from the city's 14th Ward, reflected concern about the situation, saying in a statement obtained by KSDK, "Here we go again, another death in our jail, another death in the CJC."
Mayor Cara Spencer responded to the incident with a commitment to transparency and reform at the facility. "While the facts are being gathered, my office is committed to ensuring accountability and a full review of the circumstances surrounding this incident," she said in a statement reported by St. Louis Public Radio. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department's Force Investigation Unit is investigating the death at the behest of interim Corrections Commissioner Doug Burris, who assured that any custodial death was taken with "the highest level of scrutiny." The case continues to unfold as those following await findings from the police department's investigation.
