Woman compares husband’s death to George Floyd after cops allegedly kneel on his neck during restraint
A woman in Alabama whose husband died in police custody is likening his death to that of George Floyd.
Sandra Lee Reeder claims that her husband, Phillip, called out at least three times that he could not breathe as an Irondale police officer allegedly kneeled on the back of his neck for three minutes.
Sandra and her family are calling for an investigation into the department and likening Phillip’s death to Floyd’s murder at the hands of a Minneapolis Police Department officer in 2020.
The 52-year-old’s cause of death was ruled a homicide by the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office, which noted he appeared to suffer a dysrhythmia — a kind of heart attack — brought on by the presence of cocaine in his blood, heart disease, and exertion.
“It is our opinion, based on the circumstances surrounding death and the findings at autopsy, that Mr Phillip David Reeder died of hypertensive heart disease associated with cocaine use and restraint during altercation,” Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates said. “The manner of death is best classified as ‘homicide’ for vital statistical purposes.”
Authorities said homicide is not a legal conclusion of fault, according to AL.com.
Last August, Irondale police responded to a report that a man on Highway 78 was running in and out of traffic and acting erratically, AL.com reported.
The man running around in traffic was Phillip. Sandra said her husband was having a mental health crisis due to work stress and was not committing a crime when police arrived to restrain him.
She and her family viewed body camera footage of the incident on Friday.
“The Reeder family’s hearts are heavy,” Sandra said during a press conference. “Phillip David Reeder suffered a painful death.”
Sandra describes seeing her husband in the video calling out that he can’t breathe three times while an officer kneeled on his neck.
Another officer as the scene suggested that the kneeling officer roll Phillip over, according to his wife.
Police claimed that Phillips was tased, hit his head, and was given first aid at the scene until medics arrived to transport him to a hospital. Phillip died at the hospital.
His wife says the body camera footage suggests otherwise, and pointed to the coroner’s report that suggests Phillip had other injuries on his body that were not his cause of death.
