New Year’s Day 2015, in Savannah, Georgia police received a 9-1-1 call reporting a domestic disturbance. When police arrived they found 21-year-old Nigerian student Matthew Ajibade holding a woman under a blanket. We first reported this story in May 2015 and now have the video footage.
Abijade was non-compliant when ordered to release the woman by police. Police report that Abijade resisted in a “violent manner” when they tried to take him into custody. The woman under the blanket was Abijade’s girlfriend. She had a bruise on her face and a broken nose. Abijade was arrested and taken into police custody. He was charged with domestic violence, battery, and obstruction of an officer.
According to the Abijade Family’s attorney Mark O’Mara, Abijade’s girlfriend told officers that he had mental issues. O’Mara said:
“She also gave police a bottle of his medication.”
Once Abijade arrived at the jail, police say he had to be restrained after becoming violent and injuring three officers. One of the officers was a woman sergeant who suffered a concussion and a broken nose. Here’s the video of the altercation inside the jail.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6nCSn0dm7E
While in custody, Abijade was placed in an isolation cell due to his “dangerous behavior,” according to a police news release. Deputies reported that they conducted “welfare checks” on Ajibade while he was in the isolation cell. And it was on their second check that they discovered Ajibade was unresponsive. Police say that he was given first aid by the jail’s medical unit staff. Despite CPR and attempts to restart his heart with a defibrillator, the medical staff was unable to revive Ajibade.
The Sherriff’s Office contacted the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and made a request for an independent investigation. The Chatham County District Attorney’s office decided to open a criminal investigation into the case based on the Bureau’s findings.
In the wake of the investigation, nine Chatham County deputies connected to the Abijade case were fired in May. Two of the nine former deputies, Jason Kenny and Maxine Evans, were charged with involuntary manslaughter. Kenny faced additional charges of aggravated assault and cruelty to an inmate.
Evans also faced an additional charge of public records fraud. Prosecutors believe she falsified a restraint chair log. A restraint chair log is a document used to log the times police monitor an inmate after they are placed in the chair.
Gregory Brown is the former contract health care worker who prosecutors charged with public records fraud as well as manslaughter.
In June, a grand Jury indicted the former deputies and the former contract healthcare worker for charges related to the death of Matthew Ajibade.
On October 16th, Kenny and Evans were found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Chargers against Brown were dropped by the judge.
The Autopsy report said that Ajibade died from:
“Blunt force trauma … a combination of abrasions, lacerations, skin injuries about the head and some other areas of the body.”
There is a more graphic video which shows Abijade in the restraint chair. The camera shooting the footage is attached to a taser. A taser camera only turns on only once the taser becomes active. In the video, the first second captures his head being held by a black gloved figure around his jaw. There appears to be blood coming from Abijade’s mouth. You see a while gloved figure holding Abijade’s right shoulder, as shown in the picture below.
In the video, you can see the person holding the taser tracing a red laser along Abijade’s body before eventually settling on his groin area. The camera moves closer to Abijade’s groin. The sound becomes distorted as you see flashes from the taser being fired into his groin.
In the last second of the video, you can hear Abijade’s blood-chilling scream. This is the last sound Abijade’s family will ever hear him make. Here is the video, be advised this is raw unedited footage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bLH2ahMyic
Abijade’s family described him as a “geeky kid.” They say Abijade traveled to Savannah to study computer science. According to the family, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder three years ago and was having a medical emergency at the time of his arrest and while he was in police custody.
I honestly have no commentary to give for this story, the inhumanity witnessed in this video leaves me without words. But I will say that all of the people involved in this man’s death should be tried and convicted for 1st-degree murder. ‘Merica.
