MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A man in a Miami-Dade County courtroom waiting to hear the verdict on the armed robbery charges against him attempted to cause himself serious harm.
His family said he drank a cup of bleach, but questions remain as to how he was able to obtain it.
Jermaine Bell had just been found guilty of armed robbery.
Bell has been in custody for more than three years fighting the charges.
He immediately became so sick that he was taken out of the courtroom on a stretcher and taken to the hospital.
Bell survived, but serious questions are being asked regarding how this could have happened.
Reverend Jerome Starling is a distant relative of Bell and believes there needs to be accountability.
“I see him drinking something that’s not right,” said Starling. “His attorneys are letting him drink it. Corrections letting him drink it. All of a sudden I see him collapse. And I said how could this happen.”
Bell’s cousin recorded the video of what happened. She couldn’t believe what was she was seeing.
Now Bell’s family wants answers after fearing they would lose him.
The matter is under investigation by Miami-Dade County Corrections and Miami-Dade police.