JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The family of a Jacksonville man who died in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections in Lake Butler is having his body exhumed amid a lawsuit against the FDOC.
Timothy Thomas died on Easter Sunday 2018 after an encounter with guards at the correctional facility.
The first medical examiner on Thomas’ case changed his cause of death from a homicide to undetermined, and the family is seeking a second opinion from independent medical examiner Dr. William Anderson.
Thomas’ family is demanding answers. They filed a lawsuit against the FDOC and requested the Department of Justice pursue criminal charges against the guards. His family and their attorney, Robert J. Slama, say Thomas’ death was never properly investigated and that the people responsible were never prosecuted.
“Just imagine seeing your son laying on a cell floor...” Carol Thomas, Timothy’s mother, said. “For him to just lay there and suffer like that and get no help.”
This holiday season was supposed to be the first Thomas would spend with his loved ones after finishing a 25-year prison sentence for armed robbery. He died before that could happen.
Thomas had been transferred to the Lake Butler facility to pursue surgery on his Achilles heel.
While at breakfast on the day of his medical records review, Thomas was pulled out of line because he had on religious headgear known as a Kufi, or a Muslim cap, in observance of the most holy day of the year, Slama said.
According to Slama, Thomas was told to take off the cap, was beaten and gassed multiple times, and he was placed in a cell in the Main Unit. Thomas was then removed in a spit mask, shackled, dragged, and put into an ADA cell, Slama said.
“Timothy Thomas had on his body various defensive wounds as well as we know he was beaten by the guards, he was gassed,” Slama said.
When Thomas was moved into a third cell, he was placed with inmate Emanuel Barber, who watched Thomas slowly die, Slama said.
After two hours in the cell, Thomas struggled for air, laid down on the floor and never regained his normal gait or breathing, Slama said.
Thomas was removed from the cell on Easter Sunday.
“The guards were never being considered in this case for the death of Timothy Barber,” Slama said.
The FDOC originally said Thomas died after getting stabbed by an inmate, but the Florida Department of Law Enforcement later uncovered that narrative was untrue and changed his cause of death to undetermined.
“I don’t understand none of it and then for them to cover it up,” Carol said.
State Attorney Brian Kramer declined to pursue charges against the guards.
Thomas’ family has retained Anderson to determine the cause and manner of Thomas’ death, including whether he had a fractured neck. It’s unclear how long that process could take.
“What I want is justice for my son,” Carol said.