A Detroit family is demanding answers after 50-year-old Willie T. Smith III died in his cell at the Detroit Detention Center just three days after being arrested for allegedly stealing a bottle of wine from CVS.
Watch Randy Wimbley’s video report:
Family seeks answers after man dies in Detroit jail cell days after minor arrest
Smith was arrested Sunday on the minor offense but was found dead by guards Wednesday morning. His family says the timeline surrounding his death doesn’t add up.
“I just don’t see how a person who played sports, took good care of his health, ran marathons — he served in the Navy and everything — I can’t believe how somebody like that goes to jail, and now he’s dead,” Merari Sosa Cordero said.
Sosa Cordero, Smith’s fiancé, says she struggles to reconcile what she knew about her partner with what jail officials told her about his death.
After being booked into jail Sunday, Smith was taken to Detroit Receiving Hospital, where police say he was treated for hip pain and intoxication. He was medically cleared the same day and returned to the detention center…