The mother of a black U.S. Army veteran who died in a Pennsylvania prison years after he was accused of driving under the influence is pursuing legal action against the county he died in, according to the York Daily Record. Rose Palmer is the administrator of her son Everett Palmer Jr.’s estate, and she filed documents on what would have been his 43rd birthday Tuesday that permit her lawyers to gather information necessary for a lawsuit, the newspaper reported.
Palmer died April 9, 2018, two days after he turned himself in on a 2016 DUI charge and landed in a single cell on suicide watch, according to an autopsy report the York Daily Record obtained. Palmer was knocking his head against his cell door when officers demanded he stop and used a stun gun on him twice when he didn't, according to the report. The officers eventually put Palmer, a personal trainer and father of two, in a restraint chair and hood to prevent spitting and later had him taken to a medical unit with his eyes appearing "still[,] head leaned to the side,” officials said in the report.
Although the manner of death hasn’t been determined, the York County Coroner’s Office told the York Daily Record Palmer died of “complications following an excited state, associated with methamphetamine toxicity, during physical restraint” and that sickle cell was a probable contributor in his death. Palmer's family lawyer Lee Merritt and the family, however, told The Washington Post they believe Palmer's death was a crime and that the family received Palmer’s body with his brain, heart, and throat gone. "I haven't seen a case with more unanswered questions than this one," Merritt told ABC7NY earlier last year.
Rose Palmer told the Post: “My son was a perfectly healthy young man, and my son is not going to bang his head on a cell. My son was not a troublemaker, not at all, he was a very gentle, kind man." The victim’s brother, Dwayne Palmer, told the Post his brother only checked in with Pennsylvania authorities to clear an old Lancaster County warrant before leaving for New York to visit Rose Palmer, who was sick at the time. “My brother was a good man, he comes from a good family, if he did something wrong with regards to the DUI then clearly he should be held accountable for that," Dwayne Palmer told the Post. “But that should not be a death sentence.”
Officials have released few details outside of reports released to the media. "This remains an active investigation," said Kyle King, chief administrator of the York County District Attorney's office, in an emailed statement to Daily Kos Thursday. Kelly Osborne, a public information officer with Pennsylvania State Police, similarly responded to a Daily Kos email Thursday after explaining state police along with the York County District Attorney’s office are conducting the investigation into Palmer’s death. "Due to the open investigation we cannot provide additional comment at this time," Osborne said in the statement.