Family members of an Indiana man who died after an encounter with local authorities say the body camera footage of the incident doesn’t fully depict what happened the night their loved one died.
Rhyker Earl died after deputies and first responders were called to a Jasper County home on Sept. 8 to render medical aid for multiple epileptic seizures he suffered that day.
At some point during the encounter, Earl was restrained on the floor by deputies with his face in a pillow, family members said. He became unresponsive in the minutes afterward and was pronounced dead two days later at a local hospital.
The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office released parts of the body camera footage showing the incident. However, family members said it’s missing critical moments, including footage that should show Earl’s aunt running out of the house screaming, “You just killed him,” and other footage that should show an officer putting his “dirty boot” on Earl’s back.
“I want to see the full footage,” Earl’s aunt, Miracle Gawlinski, said during a press conference on Monday. “As a witness to this tragic night, I know there’s more footage out there somewhere. There is footage of me screaming, pleading, ‘he’s blue, take his pulse,’ screaming so loud that people outside heard it.”