The family of Robert Powell, who died in police custody in Forsyth County earlier this year, is still waiting to figure out what happened to him after his listed cause of death left them with more questions than answers.
“His official cause of death has been ruled a sudden death associated with sickle cell trait,” said Kwame Thompson, the attorney for Powell’s family, at a rally held outside the state Capitol on Friday morning.
Powell’s family isn’t buying that explanation for his death because sickle cell trait does not typically come with the same health problems as sickle cell disease. Sickle cell trait occurs when a person has just one copy of the sickle cell gene, and the majority of people with sickle cell trait do not experience symptoms and have a normal life expectancy. According to the American Society of Hematology, between 8% to 10% of African Americans carry sickle cell trait.
Powell was arrested after a loss prevention agent at a Target in Cumming, about 40 miles northeast of Atlanta, called 911 to report a shoplifter, according to a press release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Though he initially ran from the police, Powell surrendered and was taken into custody without incident. Officers called EMS after they noticed a wound on his leg, and he was taken to the hospital instead of the county jail.
Since his death, Powell’s family has had very little communication with law enforcement and only found out he died when a nurse at the hospital he was admitted to answered his cellphone. They still don’t know what happened between the time he was admitted to the hospital and when he was pronounced dead later that day.
The family has demanded the release of the unedited security footage from the Target store where the 911 call originated, unedited body camera footage from the initial police encounter with Powell, and the names of all Cumming police officers and Forsyth County Sheriff’s deputies that interacted with Powell before he died.
“Robert died on Feb. 11 and was laid to rest without a death certificate,” Thompson said. The family, he said, didn’t get the Cumming police’s incident report until April.
The GBI investigation has already been turned over to the Forsyth County district attorney’s office, according to special agent in charge Kim Williams.
Thompson said Powell’s family expects to hear from the Forsyth County district attorney if she will bring the case before a grand jury in the next two or three weeks.
A number of parents who have lost a child to police violence joined in the rally to give their support to the Powell family and to demand change.
“Robert Powell should be here today,” said Kimberly Handy-Jones. Her son Cordale Handy was killed by St. Paul, Minnesota, police during a mental health episode in 2017.
“We are here to stand in support of Robert Powell’s family because we understand how this painful journey is,” said Kathy Scott-Lykes, who’s son Jarvis Lykes was shot and killed by a Georgia State Patrol trooper while on the way to work in 2017.
