OPINION — On Aug. 15, 2014, my 23-year-old son, Jamie Hubbard, died while in the custody of the Lee County Detention Center. Jamie was a good person who, like many young people, did not always make the best choices. That night, he was serving the first of three weekends for a DUI charge. A friend dropped him off at the detention center after he had spent the afternoon at the pool with friends and had been drinking.
Before he went inside, we later learned he spoke with the owner of AAA Bonding while waiting to be processed. At 3 a.m. on Aug. 16, 2014, my husband and I were notified — by family members, including my nephew who works with the Opelika Police Department, as well as the deputy county coroner — that our son had died in custody.
We were not allowed to see him. We later learned his body had been sent directly from the jail for an autopsy after paramedics were called and found him already deceased…