An Alabama woman whose husband died shortly after being restrained by police is comparing his case 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 Department 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.
“In another statement in the Irondale Police Department police report on Phillip David Reeder, it states that when Phillip was tased that Phillip suffered his bloody face and abrasions on his face from stumbling hitting his head and face in concrete,” Sandra said during a press conference on Monday. “Upon my review of all four body cams, this is not the truth.”
Attorneys for the city issued a statement on Monday saying they disagreed with the way Sandra presented the situation during her press conference. Attorneys added that none of the city’s officers put a knee on the back of Phillip’s neck.
“The Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office did not see any probable cause sufficient for criminal charges in regard to the officers and their actions during the arrest/use of force incident,” the city said in a statement.
According to AL.com, the family has not filed a wrongful death lawsuit, but the move is under consideration.
