JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Duval County judge is pressing the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for answers in a public records lawsuit filed by the family of Charles Faggart, a man who died after an incident inside the Duval County Jail.
Faggart was taken from the jail to the hospital on April 7, 2025, following an incident inside the facility. He died three days later.
Eight corrections officers and one sergeant involved in the incident were reassigned to positions in the courthouse, Records Unit, and Property and Evidence Unit as the investigation continues.
The lawsuit, filed against Sheriff T.K. Waters and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, seeks to compel the agency to comply with Florida’s Public Records Act.
According to the family’s attorney, JSO has failed to turn over records related to Faggart’s death — including surveillance video, incident reports, investigative records and other evidence — despite requests made more than a year ago.
JSO argued that those records should stay sealed because the FBI investigation is still active. On Monday, the judge said JSO didn’t have enough information to back up that claim.
“At some point I need some guidance on that, maybe it’s in camera, maybe it’s a closed-door hearing for that aspect of it, that’s something that’s sensitive, but at some point, what’s the court supposed to do without that information?” the judge said.
The judge also pointed out that neither the FBI nor the U.S. Attorney’s Office was in court to explain how releasing those records could hurt the investigation.
“Our position is that they don’t have standing to argue what the FBI or the Department of Justice is or is not doing,” Belkis Plata & James Slater, the family’s attorney, said. “They don’t know any of that information. The state attorney’s office has concluded their investigation; they handed it over to the FBI. The sheriff’s office has also concluded their investigation and were just sitting back waiting on the FBI, so the individuals who were present in the courtroom today have no active criminal investigation, and that’s what we were arguing. And the court found this case has been pending for over 16 months.”
They said that at the next hearing, they hope that the FBI could be at the next hearing to give the court more information so that the judge can decide.
“Their son was handed to them, chained to a bed, bloodied and beaten, and we have no answers, and it’s only just that they’d be able to have the information necessary to know what happened to their son,” the defense attorneys said.
Medical records obtained by News4JAX news partner The Florida Trib found that Faggart had multiple fractures on his face and ribs, bruises throughout his body, and serious damage to his kidneys and liver, along with a barb from a stun gun in his back, and had no fentanyl in his system, details that were not disclosed by JSO.
The judge did not decide on Monday; instead, he gave JSO more time to answer the court’s questions about the FBI’s investigation before deciding whether those records should be released.
Mother vows to keep fighting
Faggart’s mother, Tracey Karpas, has been vocal about the toll the unanswered questions have taken on her.
“I’m still waiting to hear anything about my son, so we’re just praying that we get the rest of the stuff,” Karpas said in April. “I will go to my grave fighting. I will. I don’t think there’s any harder fight.”
The Faggart family said it remains committed to pursuing every legal avenue available to uncover the truth about what happened to Charles and will continue seeking answers, transparency and accountability until justice is achieved.
“Do your job. Do your job. Tell the truth,” Karpas said. “That would be my only message: Tell the truth and do your job.”
