Former officers acquited of manslaughter charges in Mathew Ajibade's death

Former officers acquited of
manslaughter charges in Mathew
Ajibade's death

The two former Chatham County Sheriff's
deputies were on Friday, October 16, acquitted of
involuntary manslaughter charges in the death of
Mathew Ajibade, who died after he was tased
while in restraints and then left unattended. The
officers and a jailhouse nurse were however
convicted of lesser charges. Jason Kenny, who
used the stun gun on Ajibade, was found guilty of
cruelty to a prisoner, which carries a possible
prison sentence of 1 to 3 years.
Maxine Kenny was found guilty of falsifying
records. The nurse, Gregory Brown, was
acquitted of manslaughter charges by the judge
earlier in the week after an investigator admitted
he had been indicted based on incorrect
information about jailhouse policies.
The jury did find him guilty of perjury for claiming
he had checked on Ajibade when security
footage shows he never did.
Ajibade's cousin, Chris Oladapo told NBC News
that he was not surprised the officers were
found not guilty of the top charge.
"I knew that that same system that failed
Mathew would not be the system that got him
justice," he said. "I had already warned my
family not to expect anything. We expected
nothing, and we got nothing"
22-year-old Ajibade, a student, was handcuffed to
a restraint chair in an isolation cell after he
allegedly hit his girlfriend and broke a deputy's
nose while in the midst of what his family
described as a bipolar episode on New Year's
Day.
Officers also placed a spit mask over his mouth.
He was found dead in the chair, still wearing the
spit mask, in the early morning hours of January
2.
Graphic video obtained by NBC News showed
deputies tasing Ajibade in the groin while he was
in a restraint chair — a controversial device that
Amnesty International has said should be
banned. The coroner ruled Ajibade's death a
homicide, citing abrasions, scrapes and bumps
on his upper body and head.