A Des Moines man is pleading guilty to manslaughter for allegedly causing a fatal injury two years ago to a fellow detainee at the Polk County Jail in a case the sheriff’s office did not previously disclose.
Jonathan Brewer Jr., 49, was charged with second-degree murder in the death of 53-year-old Michael Clark of West Des Moines. According to court filings, Brewer encountered Clark while being escorted through the jail intake area on June 23, 2023, and without provocation charged Clark and head-butted him in the face, authorities say.
Clark, who was being booked for public intoxication and shoplifting, began experiencing seizures soon after the attack and died in a hospital on July 1, 2023. An autopsy found his cause of death was blunt force injury to the head…