BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Broward Sheriff’s Office detectives are investigating after they said a man who was behind bars at the Broward County’s Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale died Monday morning in the hospital.
On Monday, paramedics transported 34-year-old Joseph Kirk from the detoxification unit at the main jail to Broward Health Medical Center. Medical staff pronounced him dead at approximately 8 a.m., according to BSO.
Kirk was arrested last week on resisting an officer without violence charge. While at the jail, detectives said he was going through a detox process.
Sometime very shortly after being introduced to the jail, he was found to be unconscious and transported over to the hospital and subsequently expired,” said Weekes. “My understanding is there may be some questionable circumstances surrounding the death and we will be looking forward to seeing the medical examiner’s report, and toxicology reports to determine whether there was foul play or contraband introduced into the facility.”
Kirk’s uncle, who asked to remain identified, told Local 10 News Tuesday that he is looking for answers about his nephew’s death.
“I have a bunch of questions and I’m looking to get some answers on the up and up on what the hell happened. Cause to me, I’m learning dribs and drabs here and there.”
Authorities told Local 10 News that the Broward Main Jail has had multiple deaths in recent months, including three reported fatalities in January.
The latest incident comes weeks after a Broward Sheriff’s Office employee was placed on administrative leave following the death of a previous inmate.
When Alvin Modeste was booked into the Broward County Jail in October, his family thought the 43-year-old would finally get the mental health help he needed.
As a diagnosed schizophrenic, Modeste was being held in a special wing of the jail for inmates with acute mental illness, but his sister says she was told that her brother died from injuries he sustained from a suicide attempt. The cause was asphyxiation.
“They didn’t give me any answers,” Corine Modeste, Alvin’s sister, told Local 10 News in early January. “They tell me he tried to kill himself, but that’s not him, he wouldn’t do that.”
The family of another inmate, Janard Geffard, told Local 10 News their loved one died as well after allegedly getting beaten by his cellmate.
Earlier this month, authorities said another inmate, Corbin Moberg, died. According to his attorney, Moberg’s death has been deemed undetermined pending toxicology reports.
Broward County public defender Gordon Weekes said the deaths of the inmates just weeks apart highlight a broken culture within the jail system run by the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
Weekes, who visited the Broward Main Jail Tuesday, told Local 10 News that it was important for him to tour the facility after the string of recent inmate deaths raised concerns within his office.
“Our main concern is the culture within the jail. The culture of compliance and the culture of neglect where you overlook someone that is in need of healthcare, services, support and supervision,” he said. “When we see this high rate in a very short period of time, it demands some higher level of oversight and intervention to make sure it doesn’t continue in that path.”
Weekes says he wants to see change within the jail system and a response from Sheriff Gregory Tony.
“Each individual has a separate indicator that may have caused the death. That tells me there’s multiple gaps being missed,” he said.
As per the Broward Sheriff’s Office policy involving an inmate’s death, investigators from the agency’s homicide unit, crime scene unit and internal affairs department are investigating the recent deaths.
Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony told Local 10 News that once an inmate dies, a thorough investigation needs to be launched and incident reports need to be filed.
In response to Weekes’ comment that “the circumstances surrounding these deaths is what is of concern, because otherwise healthy individuals are entering into the jail and then they are dying,” Tony responded with the following:
“The overwhelming majority of the people that are coming through our care and custody are suffering from some form of mental health issues, substance abuse issues or other medical services,” said Tony. “When those inmates enter our facility they get the best care they they’ve probably received in their entire lifetime. We spend approximately 40 million dollars every single year paying for services through our medical provider at the jail to make sure the medical care and these treatments are ongoing. That narrative is a misconception of the truth.”
Tony also stated that Weekes’ letters are considered to be political commentary, and those letters need to stop.
“Activities need to take place to address the mental health crisis in the jails,” Tony said something he added he’s been sounding the alarm on for quite some time.
“To send these letters off with a whole bunch of unconfirmed allegations, it’s done nothing but created false imagery about what’s going on in the department of detention,” said Tony. “The court system, the public defender has not made a dent in getting these individuals who suffer from mental illness out of jail.”